Paranormal
by Obsidian Fireheart
Summary: There is no such thing as peace. That’s what Miles Prower believes. Raised by a criminal mastermind, he decides to find his own route to harmony. The darkness has enveloped him, but will he see the light? AU DarkTails, Rated M for a reason, folks.
1. Peacekeeper

Perhaps it was the worst fear he had ever felt in his life.

The room was hot and muggy. Almost suffocating. The metal felt like ice, biting away at the poor dog's skin. His fingers were bound into place, his arms perpendicular to his body, as if he was being crucified. Perhaps he was. It was hard to tell.

In front of him was a metal sheet. The sheet had holes in it. Perfectly clean, it showed his reflection in the lighted room. The intimidating reflection of him was almost startling. In fact, there was nothing wrong with his body, far from it actually, but the knives in front of him looked pretty sharp…

All of a sudden, a figure was visible in the mirror. The dog turned towards the figure and demanded, "Who are you?! What is this?! Where am I?!"

The figure chuckled, taking a gasp from the gas mask upon its face. "Hello, Randy. You find yourself to be one of the purest beings alive, no? Taking from those who are needy and increasing your own riches."

The dog was paralyzed with fear. Cold sweat ran down the back of his neck. It almost sounded like the figure had a voice changer, for the shadowy person was a lot shorter than the bass voice that was sounding would indicate.

"Of course, no one has caught you. Not until now, am I right? All these lavish riches you own couldn't have come from being without a job, and you had no inheritance to speak of." He gasped again.

"Is stealing from the defenseless really the way to go? Perhaps you will learn. This machine in front of you will begin to spout out fire. You will be burned alive if you don't find a way to release yourself. Of course, you can get out rather easily. Just press one of the buttons located under your fingers to open one out of the ten locks. When you press a button, one of those knives will come down and slice you, each one hitting deeper than the last. Are you ready? Let the games begin."

And with that word, the machine ahead began to release fire. Already, the dog was being scorched to death by the raging inferno. Out of desperation, the victim pressed down upon one of the buttons. A knife sunk down and sliced a patch of skin on his leg off. The dog screamed in agony, and pressed another button. More of his skin was sliced off. It hurt, that much the figure could tell. Already, the dog's fur was catching on fire. It wouldn't be long.

He pressed another button. His arm was stabbed sharply. By now, the dog's clean fur was either blood-soaked or burning, and his torso was minutes away from being burned open.

The dog whimpered, and then pressed a fourth button. A mace dropped from the ceiling and made home into the left shoulder, just brushing past the neck. He screamed.

The fire had town open his torso now and blood would be gushing out if it weren't evaporating from the intense heat. That was it, the dog fell unconscious and the fire consumed him.

The figure turned around and removed his gasmask and spoke in a much higher voice. "This is what happens to you ignorant people in the world. Let this be an example that this is what will happen if you continue."

The figure began to walk away. "Of course, I doubt that my plea was heard. I will make it heard by myself."

"_That's certainly an odd vision you had, milord."_

"_I'm parched."_

It was midnight.

The fox child was curled up in a ball. It was raining and thundering; every citizen of the city could hear the beating of the hail on their windows. Of course, the fox child was the one outside. He did more than hear the hail. He felt it. Every striking blow on his youthful body drew blood, but; the fox was used to this. Sleeping outside happened all the time. The poor orphan shook quietly in his sleep.

It was common for the city to hail. It did infallibly so. No one knew exactly why the hail would come so often but it did. The size of the hailstones was much larger than the norm, as well. They ranged from pebbles to the rare tennis ball. No one was out and about in this weather.

The clock tower struck midnight. It made a traditional gonging sound and was rather noisy. As such, the fox boy woke up, and then attempted to seek shelter in one of the overhangs of the large building. He was cold, so much anyone could tell. His greasy coat was slick with water, and he was shivering like no tomorrow.

Perhaps it was pity that made the passing-by man look at the fox. It was certainly a quirky thing for him to do, for he normally paid no heed to his surroundings, but under this solid umbrella he couldn't help but feel a sliver of guilt for leaving the fox like that.

It was decided as soon as he blinked that this fox needed a home. He couldn't even fathom the idea of leaving the poor thing out like this.

"Hello, child." The man broached. The fox looked up at him. "Hello sir."

_Painfully polite._ The man noted. "What might your name be?"

"Miles, sir. Miles Prower." The fox looked away for a moment, as if nervous to give out his name. The man simple nodded. "I would like you to come with me, Miles."

"Where?" The fox was hopeful.

"The clock tower of course. That is my home." The man said. He offered a hand for the fox to take, which he gratefully did. As the man opened the locked door to the tower, the fox had a question. "What is your name, sir?"

"You needn't call me sir, Miles. My name is Ivo Robotnik. Or Dr. Robotnik."

**Paranormal**

**Story written by Evershroud**

**Chapter 1**

One would call the intensity of the situation frightening.

Dr. Ivo Robotnik grinned madly at his latest experiment. The new robot design was much more sophisticated than the last model. Who would have known that the addition of a SR-STAT System would have allowed for such changes?

The robot stood at over eight feet high. It was armed with several hydrogen-lift racket cannons and hidden scythes for close combat. Not only that, it could activate massive explosions and still remain unscathed. This is the reason why it was nicknamed, "Bomber". Although, the aforementioned model was obsolete with this new addition.

Robotnik clapped his hands together with glee, and his assistant smirked, proud of his master's creation.

Robotnik's assistant was a quirky one. He was tall for his eight years of age, but he was very small compared to his master. Often, he would be unnoticed by his lord and almost stood on. It irked the boy that Robotnik would sometimes be blatantly oblivious.

He was a squat figure, sure, but that wasn't to say that he had his own fair share of unique traits. Although Robotnik preferred robotics, his assistant (and often parallel) preferred biological engineering. As a result, his form was a bit out of the ordinary. He had somewhat long shoulder length hair, his fur cut short. A pair of fangs protruded from his lips, under a set of icy blue eyes. The oddest parts were the fact that he had a pair of tails protruding from under his cloak and a rather prominent frame. Of course, this wasn't to say that it was natural. His muscles were somewhat swollen due to the unnatural amount of cells packed into them, about ten times as much as the regular organism; each cell was fitted with several hundred times the amount of mitochondria. Overall, he could lift the forty-ton robot in front of him and barely feel the strain.

Not to say that Robotnik was all natural. Oh no, he was a cyborg at heart. His arms were fitted with missile launchers and the same hydrogen-lift racket cannons as his creation. Not only that, the invention of the gamma ray cannon helped Robotnik out a lot. Risky to use, it caused some self destructive effects to its user, but that was nothing compared to the caliber it had. The strongest of its kind, it could melt through a sheet of lead a foot thick. A tank was nothing compared to this.

"This has to be the best invention you have come up with yet, Doctor." Miles said.

"Incorrect, Miles." Robotnik stated. "You are still my greatest project. Who knew that biological engineering could have such effects? Your cooperation with me has been imperative to most of my projects. Especially the SR-STAT System."

"You flatter me, Doctor." Miles said embarrassedly, turning his head away. For an eight year old he was more than a prodigy. Having been taught by one of the smartest men in the world, it was obvious as to how information was absorbed by his curious mind so easily. That, and after Robotnik's teachings to him had ceased, he had studied more in the field of microbiology and genetic engineering. Perhaps this was one of Miles' greatest achievements yet, with the HIM (Human Imitation Micro-technology) chip containing a replica of a human brain, along with several ports to connect to other important components. In other words, he had created the first artificial nervous System, dubbed SR-STAT System, for Super Response Statistics and Tetra-Architectural Terminology System.

"Of course, Miles. There is something that I want to tell you… This world is impure." Robotnik began. He snapped and some chairs and coffees for each person appeared.

Miles sat down. "I know that already. Westopolis' foolish ideals of remaining 'perfect'. In actuality, leaving a poor orphan out on the streets just because he has two tails is _far_ from perfect in my opinion."

Robotnik nodded. "This is happening all over the world. It is a thing called Ego. I'm sure you recognize it, being the psychology expert you are, but I'll just say that the United Federation's head has figuratively grown too big. Not only that, the Allied Forces of the West is trying to come up with a plan to conquer the world. There is simply no room left for those like us, those who want to help the world… So I have come up with a plan."

Miles eyebrow quirked, "A plan, you say? Care to elaborate?"

Robotnik smiled under his thick auburn mustache, "We will conquer the world. That way, we will stop wars and conflicts with an iron fist. We will cause the beginnings of a new peace. But, the only way for people to see peace is for them to know our pain."

"I see what you're saying."

"We are the Dark Dawn. An organization dedicated to creating peace across the world. Our ways may be unethical, but our ways are the only ways."

"I haven't a problem with your plans, Doctor. When shall our plans start?"

"Four years… Your mission is to begin blueprinting seven biological specimens of the Mobian type. Make them as powerful in combat as you can, and emphasize teamwork. You shall see why soon. All I have to say is this." He reached into his pocket and pulled out seven silver earrings. "Wear these on your left ear."

"I won't fail you, Doctor." Miles said as he pierced the first ring through his ear. He felt a sharp bite of pain, but it wasn't too horrible. He could take six more.

"Peace will come soon."

"_I can see it…"_

"_See what, milord?"_

"_A revolution is coming upon us…"_

"_I beg your pardon?"_

"_The Chosen are all in place…"_

"_Chosen? Does this have to with the Renewal legend, milord?"_

"_Yes and no. I'll just say that what this vision that the gods have delivered to me has several discrepancies."_

"_I have heard about some prophets being total and utter crap. Who are the Chosen, anyways?"_

"_The gods have told me this. One is a demon of pure heart. Another is the one who lives alongside a fallacy. Then there is the sorcerer of peace. Finally there is the… least desirable one."_

"_I beg your pardon? Least desirable? Who is this?"_

"_The cat that attracts no mates."_

"_A whore?"_

"_Perhaps. The gods often speak in riddles. I often have turmoil in deciphering them."_

"_I see. What are we supposed to do about this?"_

"_Simple. Nothing. Nothing until we are needed."_

"_When will we be needed? What is there to do in this life anyways? What is so desirable about this life?"_

"…"

"_Well?"_

"_Cats."_

"_I beg your pardon?"_

"_Cats are nice."_

"… _Cats. Milord, for an honorable one such as yourself, you have no way with humor. With all due respect of course."_

"_As they say, practice makes perfect."_

"_If I may ask, please practice elsewhere, milord…"_

"_Pity…"_

"_About these Chosen… There are no such thing as demons, let alone one that is of a pure heart. Who is that?"_

"_Perhaps something metaphorical."_

"_Maybe so. What sort of fallacy can anyone live by, though?"_

"_Perhaps an incorrect religion. Like every religion that isn't the one we practice."_

"_What about a sorcerer. What is that?"_

"…"

"_Milord?"_

"_A wizard is born when he is the eighth son of an eighth son. Wizards control magical powers and such. A sorcerer is born when he is the eighth son of a wizard. These men practically overflow with power, untapped and they don't realize it. I can't imagine what the eighth son of a sorcerer would be."_

"_A philosopher?"_

"_A good name as any. I was thinking more of like… a god."_

"_I beg your pardon?"_

"_That is how much power the eighth son of an eighth son of an eighth son of an eighth son would have. Almost limitless."_

"_I suppose so."_

"_If this sorcerer learns how to control his powers to the fullest extent, the results _will_ change the world. They will be __cataclysmic__."_

"_I see."_

"_You do see."_

"_What?"_

"_Care to fetch me a coffee?"_

"_Milord?"_

"_A coffee, please. Appease these old bones, eh?"_

Sonic the Hedgehog woke up to a fantastic morning. It was somewhat cold outside, but nothing that the hedgehog couldn't run in.

He had some sort of an obsession with running around since he was little. The movements of his legs, seeing the sights, and letting the wind run through his quills. It was a pleasant experience. Not to mention that he could run fast. Like, he could run _**FAST**_.

Most people were astounded by the hedgehog's sheer speed. After all, hedgehogs were some of the most lethargic creatures around. Wasn't he supposed to be slow? Sonic always was a strange person.

It was one morning in station square that he spotted an odd sight. There was a large human walking about, wearing a red top and black pants. The sleeves of his shirt were oddly slack compared to the rest of his outfit, but that might not have been so surprising seeing as his body was like that of an egg.

Next to him was a fox child. The kid was wearing a long cloak that fell to the floor. A pair of tails poked out from underneath it. His hood was off, and he could see seven ear piercings in the kid's ear. Ouch.

Unlike the man's cheerful expression as he was talking away to his accomplice, the kid had a lethargic... almost a scowl upon his dull features. He eavesdropped in spite of himself.

"Miles, the hospital is an ideal location to obtain genetic materials. You head there and study as much of it as you can, perhaps 'borrow' a few copies of gene maps. Use these to aid your blueprinting. I will head to the laboratory to obtain any samples of liquid A to use for my cybernetics construction. Understood."

"Yes, Doctor."

"Okay then. Have at it."

Miles separated from the doctor and put his hood up. He raised a face mask over his mouth and nose, and put on an eye mask in order to conceal his identity. Sonic wondered why this was, and he wondered what on Mobius liquid A was. After debating it in his head, he went to follow the kid. Something about this felt fishy.

Miles stopped in front of the hospital. He glanced up at it impassively. "Station Square Medical Center and Hospital. This is it."

He hopped off of his perch, the lamppost, and walked calmly to the door. Of course, he didn't open it. Sonic was appalled to see him dig his fingers into the wall and begin to climb. The kid was like, eight, and he could shove his fingers through brick. What kind of strength was this?

Miles climbed up the wall and then revealed a very sharp claw. He traced a neat, perfect circle on the window and scrambled inside. Sonic climbed up a nearby tree and leapt into the window soundlessly.

When the hedgehog landed, there was silence as there was no sign of the fox. Sonic quirked an eyebrow before he walked on forwards. In the hallway, he caught the kid walking into another corridor. Sonic quickly followed. For a while, Sonic pursued Miles around corners and up and down staircases, until the fox entered a room labeled, "340-C".

Sonic waited outside. He entered the room after ten minutes of waiting and found that it led to series of more halls. Sonic swore silently to himself. He picked a random hallway and found that Miles was walking towards him. In his left hand were several papers. Miles was halfway past him when he spoke quietly. "Sonic the Hedgehog."

The kid's voice had an edge to it like a sawblade. It was high and childish, but it had a boatload of sinister intentions underneath. It had a thing to it, however, that made Sonic sweat. It was like a tone of maturity and coldness. For one so young, he couldn't possibly have such an undertone to his speech unless he had lived a life of pain.

The kid's mouth bent into a smirk. "You think you weren't caught. Aiming to be simply a passerby heading in the same direction as I. We all know otherwise. I knew it from the moment you began to eavesdrop on me. Tsk tsk. Couldn't be more shameful. I'll have you know that there is nothing to save by acting the hero, for that's what I'm doing…

"Saving this world from a collection of fools."

Sonic's eyes widened.

"Human desire." Miles continued, "A dangerous thing. It is the start of wars, it is the start of death, and it is the start of the planet's decay. There is nothing worse that the control that the world has given to the people. Shameful, how we couldn't make more use of it. The world's dying, Sonic. There is almost no time left. If we continue at the rate we're going, the planet will become one empty barren rock like it was billions of years before. Before the gift of life was granted to it.

"The Dark Dawn plans to change this. We will give the world its own metamorphosis. We will give that planet and its people their salvation from the unholy desire that has cloaked this population so. Why am I telling you this? Simple. I believe that you are the one that will oppose the Dark Dawn. I believe you will continue to show us why our goal exists. Proving the necessity of our goal is imperative for the plan to function, and you will make a good guinea pig. Willfully or not, you will forward my plans.

"But, let me tell you this. Imagine a world in which there is no such thing as wars, no conflict, and no hate. All just peace. _That_ is what I imagine the world's potential to be. Just like billions of years ago, when our less intelligent ancestors walked this world. When desire was _not_ prioritized. When _survival_ was the key. I plan to recreate that world. I plan to rid the world of this desire that engulfs it. And this is simple step one of my plan.

"Think about it, Sonic. This is our destiny. This is our destiny to right the wrongs that we have caused, and perfect the gift of life upon this soil. And I believe that these people need a kick in the right direction." He adjusted his facemask a bit. "Of course, who knows how monumentally large that kick will need to be? I will find that out.

"My name is Miles Prower. Pleasure to meet you, Sonic the Hedgehog. I must be going now."

He walked away. Sonic stood there, appalled by what the kid just said. How could an eight year old kid plan this?

It was a few hours later, back in the clock tower, when Miles spoke to Robotnik.

"I believe that we have opposition to our plan."

_A/N: Well, for starters, I think that that turned out very well. Of course, it's almost ten so I should be getting some sleep now. Maybe, maybe not. So what do you think? Do you think my plot is chilling enough for you? Just wait 'til later. You won't be able to sleep then… I guarantee it. Okay, maybe not, considering that this is the first horror I've written. It prob'ly isn't scary at all knowing me. ; )_

_So, what do you think about the scene in italics? The Milord/Student scene? Was that good comic relief? How about the scene at the beginning? Was that gruesome enough to convey its point? Think you can guess where it came from? Might be easy, but whatever._

_What about characterization? Do you think that I conveyed my characters well? The three main characters: Sonic, Miles, and Robotnik, then the mystery character at the beginning. Who is that character and how will he/she affect the plot? Wait and see! Be sure to review!_

_Bis zum nächsten Kapitel!_

_-Evershroud _


	2. Evening

Sergeant Seraph Giovanni stood beside his superior upon a cliff. The Battle of the Highlands, or so the UF had named it, was unfolding before their very eyes.

Of course, Seraph was unsure as to why they battled like this. As far as he knew, there was no reason for this sudden war with the wolf clans. Not that they stood a chance against the supreme Royal technology, anyway. Seraph had always been smaller than his peers, and was subject to ridicule. He had made it to his standing only by his intelligence, for his combat skills were almost nonexistent.

General Hayden Brown stood beside Seraph. He watched the battle with glee. Plans unknown to the other were forming in his head.

"The Dark Dawn…" He muttered.

"Sir?" Seraph was confused. Why would his master say such a thing? The monstrous bulldog General was as loyal as they come, and Seraph was pretty sure that he was sane.

"Nothing, Sergeant."

"General? Sir? Are you alright?"

"I am fine, Sergeant. Now, inform the front to prepare for an aviation attack from the east." He scratched his left ear.

Seraph turned and walked away. He was somewhat suspicious of the higher ranking officer. For a while now he had been saying strange things. It was as if he was a completely different person. Seraph continued down the slope to give the orders to the battling front.

Perhaps suspicion could wait.

-

"_Sonic the Hedgehog." Miles' mouth bent into a smirk. "You think you weren't caught. Aiming to be simply a passerby heading in the same direction as I. We all know otherwise. I knew it from the moment you began to eavesdrop on me. Tsk tsk. Couldn't be more shameful. I'll have you know that there is nothing to save by acting the hero, for that's what I'm doing…_

"_Saving this world from a collection of fools."_

_Sonic's eyes widened._

"_Human desire." Miles continued, "A dangerous thing. It is the start of wars, it is the start of death, and it is the start of the planet's decay. There is nothing worse that the control that the world has given to the people. Shameful, how we couldn't make more use of it. The world's dying, Sonic. There is almost no time left. If we continue at the rate we're going, the planet will become one empty barren rock like it was billions of years before. Before the gift of life was granted to it._

"_The Dark Dawn plans to change this. We will give the world its own metamorphosis. We will give that planet and its people their salvation from the unholy desire that has cloaked this population so. Why am I telling you this? Simple. I believe that you are the one that will oppose the Dark Dawn. I believe you will continue to show us why our goal exists. Proving the necessity of our goal is imperative for the plan to function, and you will make a good guinea pig. Willfully or not, you will forward my plans._

"_But, let me tell you this. Imagine a world in which there is no such thing as wars, no conflict, and no hate. All just peace. That is what I imagine the world's potential to be. Just like billions of years ago, when our less intelligent ancestors walked this world. When desire was not prioritized. When survival was the key. I plan to recreate that world. I plan to rid the world of this desire that engulfs it. And this is simple step one of my plan._

"_Think about it, Sonic. This is our destiny. This is our destiny to right the wrongs that we have caused, and perfect the gift of life upon this soil. And I believe that these people need a kick in the right direction." He adjusted his facemask a bit. "Of course, who knows how monumentally large that kick will need to be? I will find that out._

"_My name is Miles Prower. Pleasure to meet you, Sonic the Hedgehog. I must be going now."_

_I walked away from him._

-

Perhaps he hadn't gotten enough sleep the day he had said that. Really… What was he thinking?

Miles paced back and forth around his personal laboratory. There were electronic devices everywhere. The front of the room was stacked with the mass of a supercomputer. The back was full of test tubes and the specimens inside of them. There were metal sheets for walls instead of the usual drywall. There was a faint beat upstairs, the rhythm of the clock tower.

"Why did I do that? My mouth is far too loose."

Miles remembered the repercussions that his giveaway had gotten him from the Doctor.

"_I think we have an opposition."_

"_What?!" Robotnik immediately went on panic mode, that much Miles knew. "Who is this opposition?"_

_Miles frowned. "Sonic the Hedgehog."_

_Robotnik's eyes closed. "Hmm…" He was breathing slightly deeper, a sign that he was angry. "Miles. I will ask you never to do that again. I said DON'T tell anyone of our plans."_

_I know, doctor. However, I couldn't help but notice that he was… What would you say…? Exited to learn of our plans. I'm not sure what compelled me to tell him, doctor."_

_Robotnik frowned. "Never again. We don't need him blabbing our plans to the entire planet… Have you got the blueprints done?"_

_Miles was slightly relieved when his master changed the subject, "The blueprints are finished and I am in the process of animating these. Estimated finish date is in six days."_

"_Your mouth has caused us to become publicized, I hope you realize. As a result, once you finish the animations, Dark Dawn will be shut down for two years longer than planned. The only activities we will do as Dark Dawn will be information gathering. No forward attempts, no conquering. We have to remove our name from the world. And not only that, we both will disappear…"_

"_What?"_

"_All will be revealed soon, Miles."_

-

Miles smirked as he finished his project. The animations were complete. Seven large shadows stood behind him. Seven new life forms all ready for combat. The GS series of Super Soldiers. All but one of the figures wore the same black cloak that Miles wore, adjusted to their size, of course.

One of the Soldiers walked forwards. At seven foot tall, he was the largest of the Super Soldiers. He was a large turtle named GS-001, or Vergil. His blue shell was as hard as diamond. Maybe even harder. His mouth was fitted with many fangs, sharp as daggers. Vergil was the only one without a cloak, and that was because of his shell. That was where the normal things ended. Vergil's shell had an odd pattern resembling a face on the back. That face was grinning and seemed to be spiting whoever would walk behind him. The turtle also had rippling muscle everywhere. The oddest feature was the turtle's six arms, four of which were capable of merging with the middle pair to hide and not attract attention. Bat-like ears sat atop his head, capable of enhanced hearing and one extra purpose.

It hadn't taken long for Miles to realize what his seven earrings were for. After he was given seven identical pieces of jewelry and told to put one each in his Soldiers' ears, he figured it out in a heartbeat.

A genius idea it was too. Such an idea would allow them to disappear and hide yet still obtain information. All in the blink of an eye. Miles smirked as Vergil walked around the room while the rest of the soldiers remained stiff. As he walked, Vergil's left ear showed with one silver loop.

Miles had true control over these Soldiers. He saw through all of their eyes, heard through all of their ears, and felt all that they felt.

Of course, the downside was that he had to practice to know which feeling came from whom.

But for now, he would be all over the world and no one would know.

-

**Paranormal**

**Story written by Evershroud**

**Chapter 2**

-

Vergil stood in a crowd of people. The streets of Central City were packed and everybody seemed to have one place or another to go. Of course, as a Mobian that stands head and shoulders above the rest, it was very easy to distinguish him in such a crowd.

That is, unless he played the part. And playing the part of a simple man doing business was the cliché yet useful cover.

Beside Vergil was a normal looking Mobian businessman. He was a stocky beagle and had the look of wealth and selfishness written all over his body language. That and he reeked of BO. As the man handed him the briefcase he held, he said, "Thank you for doing business with Mirewell Corps."

Vergil nodded, as the man began to look somewhat impatient to receive the money that he was supposed to have been paid. Vergil brought out a stack of hundred bills and counted off several, then gazed impassively as the fat man almost snatched them out of his hands. With a pacifying grin, the man walked away back into his limousine.

Vergil frowned at the man's sheer rudeness, but said nothing. Either way, he got the briefcase, that's what mattered, so Vergil began to sift through the crowd and away.

-

The chains binding him felt like ice. Not only that, the tight grip they had on him _hurt_.

He frowned. Think rationally about this. Even though he was bound to frosted chains and he was stuck in a place he wasn't in the slightest bit familiar with, he could still _possibly_ get out.

He was tied to a column of metal. His legs were bound with metallic braces that left him freezing. There was a chill to the air that made the beagle shiver, and it wasn't the cold.

"Hello, George. You are the president of the Mirewell Corporation, am I right?"

The column that George was tied to rotated around to face him with a hooded figure with a creepy gas mask. George bared his teeth. "That organization was shut down years ago."

The masked figure twitched. "Lies! It continues as we speak. You used this organization for more than just monetary gain. I know. This organization is a front for your, shall we say, _dirtier_ work. You sell things including drugs, slaves, and prostitutes all along the black market. You take people from their homes and force them into a life of hatred and servitude, all because you want even more cash than your multi-billionaire self owns as it is. Disgusting.

"Now, you will see what it is like to live their lives. If you look around, you'll notice that there are several columns tipped with… very sharp edges, right? Now, let me point something out to you."

The columns lifted up and there was a group of people very familiar to George standing there. The masked one continued, "Perhaps this reminds you? These people are familiar to you, no?"

George was nervous. A cold sweat dripped down his back, but he said nothing.

The figure continued, "Not ringing a bell? Then let me tell you. These are some of the slaves that you sold along your underground market. And George? I want to play a game. I already pointed out the columns, so let's skip to the good part."

The columns returned to their original position as the figure took a gasp from his mask.

"These people that you unwillingly sold as slaves will now decide your fate. Once I leave, the column that you are bound to will begin to spin and move in a circle. With each pass around, you will get closer to the very sharp edges of this field. By the time this ride is over, the edges would have dug into the column _behind_ you."

The dog's gaze unconsciously shifted backward.

"Yes, that sharp. Now, these slaves here have the chance to save you. If they press the button on their little remote, then a column will be removed. Now, for you to be saved, all of the slaves have to press the button. All of the slaves that you scorned. All of the slaves that became concubines for filthy owners. All of the slaves that had their families killed by you and all of the slaves whose lives you've ruined. Let me tell you something… To forgive is something monumentally difficult. For some, it takes a lot to forgive someone. And to receive the forgiveness of twenty-two people that originally you stood upon." He whistled. "That's gonna take some work. _Au revoir_."

The floor began to spin as the room began to make a lot of noise. As George began to move, he began to feel queasy with the nervousness building up in him. At the sight of the columns coming closer, George couldn't take it anymore and began to scream. "Help!"

The slaves looked at him impassively.

"Help! Don't you guys have a sliver of pity for the one being tormented and spinning to his doom?!"

No response.

"Release me!"

A saw blade dug into the bridge of his nose. He yelped in pain but was not able to move.

"Ah! You filthy sadistic people! FUCK! Let me out!"

One slave pressed a button. One column rose up.

"The rest of you do it! Come on! Press those buttons!

Another column dug into his side.

"God damn it!" He started to grow teary from the pain, in spite of his normal hardened self. "Come on…!"

No response.

This continued for almost an hour. The only thing left of George when the machine stopped was the thin slices of his inactive and blood bathed body. The saw blades of the columns dyed red save for one.

The masked figure sighed. "Disappointing."

-

Sonic the Hedgehog wandered back and forth. He didn't know what to make of the situation that he had been put in a few weeks back.

Of course, the kid who had put him in such a position wasn't seen again, but the words out of his mouth never failed to frighten him.

"_But, let me tell you this. Imagine a world in which there is no such thing as wars, no conflict, and no hate. All just peace. That is what I imagine the world's potential to be. Just like billions of years ago, when our less intelligent ancestors walked this world. When desire was not prioritized. When survival was the key. I plan to recreate that world. I plan to rid the world of this desire that engulfs it. And this is simple step one of my plan._

"_Think about it, Sonic. This is our destiny. This is our destiny to right the wrongs that we have caused, and perfect the gift of life upon this soil. And I believe that these people need a kick in the right direction." He adjusted his facemask a bit. "Of course, who knows how monumentally large that kick will need to be? I will find that out._

"_My name is Miles Prower. Pleasure to meet you, Sonic the Hedgehog. I must be going now."_

He shivered at the memory. The past always had its ways of haunting him.

The TV in the house was showing a football game, but the hedgehog's attention wasn't focused on that. It was late, and the sun was setting through the window. He looked at himself through that window's reflection and wondered. _What could be out there? Out to get me?_

-

Professor Gerald Robotnik paced back and forth beside his computer. The machine had been working day in and day out to create appreciable results for the project he was working on.

Supposedly it was like a superhuman soldier creation project to go along with the now finished Project Eclipse. The Eclipse cannon was a cannon that could fire a condensed gamma-ray laser at such a high temperature and light appreciation rate that it could blast a chunk of the moon right off. Or so the math predicted.

Beside the professor there was a pod filled with a life-giving green liquid. Inside of that, there was a single embryo of what looked like a hedgehog. Already there were red streaks forming on the pseudo quills.

_There is only one of your kind in existence._

The embryo twitched and the professor was about to investigate, but decided to call off his suspicion. It could have been a natural reaction after all.

_You were made by the humans to be the ultimate life form._

Unnoticed by Gerald, the embryo was listening to the words unspoken. Paying heed to every syllable, but not able to reply back. Just to sit there, floating in the liquid, inanimate.

_Perhaps you will pay deed to my words, for the world will need them._

_In fifty six rounds of the sun, Armageddon will arrive. Set upon vanquishing evil, this character will vanquish life itself. You will stop this process. There will be conflict, but everything will become a simple, inert and peaceful state after the coming war. Remember this, Shadow the Hedgehog. Remember this and keep in mind the peace that will result once your duty is complete. Save this world from a state of hell._

-

"_Milord, was that necessary?"_

"_It most certainly was, I think. We need a failsafe to ensure that we don't lose this war. After all, this war will include everybody."_

"_Everybody? Even us? I doubt anyone in the world knows who we are."_

"_You'd be surprised."_

"…"

"_If you have nothing to say, I'm going to take my leave now. I need to get some beauty sleep anyways."_

So, the master left, leaving the student there, alone, to ponder his thoughts. However, his thoughts were only on one thing.

"_Fancy that, a sorcerer. Just like me."_

_-_

"It's so cold."

He was wrapped in a blanket and shivering against the corner of the room. With a metallic silver sheen, the walls of the room showed an appraisal of him from various angles.

His mind was crumbling, he knew that much. So much had happened in the past. So much had happened since the coming of his foster father and becoming an apprentice to his studies. Perhaps it was the fact that he had learned so much in the past years that caused his psychological balance to tumble away. With the other images of himself looking at him from the walls, he was only reminded of how cold his own gaze could be. Cold and hardened. A bandage covering thousands of bloody scars. Shielding himself from his past. A past of fortitude and bloodshed. A past of apathy and regret.

He was reminded of how frail he was. The eight year old could only be frightened by the notion of how easily his life could be put out like candles on a birthday cake. A simple gust of wind was all it took for him to change completely.

Beside him was a large Mobian, the aquamarine colored turtle Vergil. Of course, it seemed that Vergil was either unconscious or sleeping, for he was sprawled out on the floor in no exact position.

It was then that Miles decided to do something that would change his life. "I need a backup plan. What if this all fails…?"

He got up quickly and searched through a pile of papers that lay on the wooden desk beside him. Perhaps he had gone schizo over the years, his paranoia creeping up behind him, making sure that no little detail was lost in anything he did. No one could see it, but there was one thing Miles knew that no one else in the world knew. Perhaps not even Robotnik.

He was afraid. Afraid that his very life will fold against him and collapse. Afraid that he would have to live the same hellish life as he had four years ago. Afraid that the only one who had seen him and raised him would eventually betray him. However, after years of living a cold, almost dead life, he could keep his emotions from coming to the surface. Or so he liked to believe.

Miles shuffled through the papers on his desk. All of these were plans of various machinery and lab experiments. He needed a failsafe. A failsafe against death.

-

Dr. Ivo Robotnik was sitting at his own desk in the room below Miles'. He could hear sounds of a machine working and or being built. A small smile played upon his face. _I know what you're doing, little fox…_

-

_Chapter two complete! Sorry for the delay. I was at England._

_Anyways, has this opened up the plot a bit for you all? I hope you liked this chapter. Nothin' else to say here. Kind of said it all during the last chapter._

_Bis zum nächsten Kapitel!_

_-Evershroud_


	3. Awakening

It was a cold day at Angel Island. The birds were chirping cheerfully, creating an ambient noise that filled the forests with life; but the trees were changing to an auburn shade, signaling the eventual coming of winter.

The Guardian of the Master Emerald, so to speak, sat upon the shrine cross-legged. He was deep in thought, trying to maintain and cool the Master Emerald. It was enraged, Knuckles knew that much. He had to calm the flaring energies inside of the angry jewel.

His face was wrinkled with concentration. He tuned out the surrounding world expertly, focusing only on the emerald before him. He felt a sudden burst of energy. It was enough to send him flying forward into the shrubbery in front of the sacred shrine.

Knuckles wiped the dirt off his face and glanced back at the Master Emerald. What he saw startled him. The emerald was radiating with green energy. More so, in fact, than at all in any time that Knuckles remembered.

The ground began to crack as Knuckles slowly backed away. The sight he saw scared him. The Master Emerald was normally very calm. When there was a gale about it and the ground was shaking, something was wrong.

And then it stopped. No more noise, no more shaking, no more anything. Just a quiet, peaceful morning. Knuckles edged closer to the emerald. It then spoke.

"_I need you to heed my words, Guardian."_

-

His breathing was very audible in the empty room. Wires bound him to the machine; needles were inside of his body, his nose and mouth hooked up to a respirator. His eyes were closed, but he was awake. He felt every pulse that the tubes delivered. Every pump that inserted more of the formula into his body. Every burst of pain that came with it.

It wasn't until a few more hours that his design was complete. He had spent three years simply thinking this up. And so far, it was working like a dream. The wires and tubes all made a sudden clicking noise, releasing themselves from the subject's body and letting him fall to the floor.

It felt amazing. He felt as if someone could hurt him and he wouldn't feel it. Not exactly numb, per se, but more like… invincible. He felt like he could do anything. He felt like a _god_.

He stood up, rearing to his full height. He took a moment to breathe with his newly empowered lungs and he spoke. "I am Ragnarok, the First Paranormal."

He glanced fleetingly at the other seven Paranormal, making sure that all of them were there.

He loved the feeling of defying death. Immortality was definitely, in his own opinion, Miles' greatest accomplishment.

He walked around the barren room, bringing the other seven with him to his laboratory in the clock tower. As they walked down the hall, Miles said to himself the names of his other selves, all of which in line behind him. "Vergil, Hayden, Aldous, Rennaux, Garret, Spectre, and Thorn. My seven perfect creations. Alongside Ragnarok: myself. The Eight Paranormal." He was slightly giddy over his newly complete project, his super enhanced self.

"My fellow selves," He addressed his hooded followers. "we will bring peace to this world, no matter what the Doctor says. And if we do it by force, so be it. I care not how we achieve this peace, only that we do achieve it."

He knew that he was talking to himself, but he continued.

"If Dark Dawn cannot operate for another three years, then the Paranormal will operate in its place."

He was eleven years old. He stood tall for a Mobian his age, a great three foot five. His fur had grown somewhat thick over the years as he focused more on his Paranormal project than his fashion, his hair mostly; it fell to just over where his tails started. He had his hair in a ponytail simply to keep it out of the way. After all, it would be bad to accidentally catch it on fire, wouldn't it? He was wearing the same cloak as before, with the black on the outside and the red interior. His wrists were garbed with silver bracelets that had spikes around them. He was a prodigy, and he could outsmart many learned scholars. However, what was to come would even knock Miles off his rocker.

"Oh really?" Dr. Robotnik said with a grin. "You dare to defy me, my faithful companion?"

-

**Paranormal**

**Story Written by Evershroud**

**Chapter 3 - Awakening**

-

"I dare not to defy you, Doctor." Miles said smoothly, "I would rather go on with our plans now."

Robotnik was silent. A small smile crept onto his lips, under his thick mustache.

"Brave, boy. To take my words and toss them right out of the window. You believe that this is the right course of action?"

Miles hesitated, but then said, "I do, Doctor."

Robotnik suddenly grew cold. "Well, I don't. We will never have peace if you are too hasty, Miles."

The fox retorted back. "That is just your opinion. I believe otherwise."

"It doesn't matter what you believe, Miles. My opinion overrules yours."

Miles smiled, "Once again, your opinion. Please get out of my way."

"I can't let you put my plan in jeopardy, Miles." Robotnik replied, not moving.

"Shame." The fox sighed dramatically, "I suppose I'll have to lug you out of the way myself." Vergil stepped forward and stood his ground in front of Robotnik. Miles frowned, "Last warning, Doctor. Please step aside."

"I can't, Miles. I will not let my plan end here."

Miles said nothing as Vergil came up and punched Robotnik. The man heaved over and the tortoise lifted him and threw him to the other end of the corridor.

The Paranormal walked off. The leader's sensitive ears caught Robotnik's muttering. "You dare defy me, for all of the gifts I have given you?"

The fox replied deliberately, his emotions barely restrained. "As with every baby bird, its mother teaches it to fly, and then the baby leaves the nest. This is the same case. Teach me to fly, and I'll fly. Only you taught me more than to fly." He walked out of the corridor.

Robotnik was left there, in his heap against the wall. "No…" He muttered. "I cannot let it end here. My plan is unharmed. I must get my revenge on that fox for betraying me. Yes, it will be grand… My plans will all come to fruition. Just you wait, fox boy."

-

Shadow's eyes opened as the smoke cleared out of the room. The people that stood over him. They were so frightening. They made Shadow feel so… small. Each of them wore a green uniform; one had a hat upon his head and a pair of mismatched eyes.

"Project Shadow, yes? You are now placed under custody of G.U.N. and will obey every command given herein."

Shadow blinked, trying to decipher what the man had said. It had been so long since he was awake. Since he was capable of cognitive thought. He said the phrase that would show his gratitude to these men for freeing him.

"My name is Shadow the Hedgehog," He faced the one with the hat. "I am now under your service… Master."

"You don't need to call me master. I am Commander Hector Sykes."

"I am now under your service, then, Commander."

-

Sonic enjoyed his time with Amy Rose. Ever since the creepy event with that fox boy, he had been slightly on edge. However, the feeling of dulled over the years. The now nineteen year old hedgehog felt his girlfriend lean her head upon his shoulder. He accepted it and continued watching the movie.

It was a romance, involving two lovers that do their best to make their respective parents forget their quarrels and just be peaceful. Quite similar to Romeo and Juliet, actually.

He was very intrigued with the film, and as such, flinched sharply when the screen went black. It was quiet in the theater until the movie came back on. Everyone sighed in relief and continued watching.

-

"That movie was great, Sonic! Thanks for taking me out!" Amy Rose said to her boyfriend.

"No problem." Sonic said with a smile on his face. "Should I walk you home?"

"It's okay. I can do it myself." Amy began to walk off when Sonic grabbed her hand.

"Means that I should do it then." He said romantically. Amy giggled. "Ooh, Sonic! You big teddy bear!"

That was when the bomb hit. Literally.

The explosion almost sent Sonic and Amy flying, but the blue hedgehog held his ground and his woman tightly. Down from the sky descended a large robot in the shape of a four-legged spider. The cockpit opened to reveal no one other than Dr. Robotnik himself.

"People of Station Square!" He announced, "I, Dr. Ivo Robotnik, hereby deem this city under my control! You will do as I say and nothing else! The city and you all are mine until I say otherwise. Any objections can be brought to this!" He pointed to the large jaw fitted on his arachnid robot, which snapped closed and back open on cue.

Sonic was furious. Not only did he ruin his date, he also just waltzed into his city and expected the people to bow to him. What the hell? "I have an objection!" Sonic said as him and his spindash sailed toward the cockpit.

The glass case closed just in time, as Sonic's speed caused the glass to almost shatter. "Hahahaha!" Roared Robotnik triumphantly, "You can't do a thing to me."

That was when he saw Amy Rose with her hammer.

The glass shattered and it almost impaled Robotnik. A battle ensued, consisting of Robotnik shaking them off and beginning to fire at the couple.

"Amy, get to safety." Sonic urged, "I'll take care of this clown."

"But I-" Amy was about to protest, but the fiery look in her boyfriend's eyes had her do otherwise. She kissed him on the cheek and whispered, "Be careful."

"Will do." Sonic assured, not looking away from Robotnik. He leapt forward and hit Robotnik with another spindash.

Robotnik clutched his head in pain. "You little!" He raged. "You _little…_"

"Are you hurt, Eggman?" Sonic teased. His expression turned more serious. "You hurt people in this city. You think you can just take the lives of those you deem necessary. I don't think so."

Robotnik removed his hand from his bleeding forehead, instead grabbing at the throttle in front of him. "You may have won the battle this time, hedgehog, but remember, I will win the war! Muahahahaha!" He laughed as he flew away in his small pod.

Sonic frowned as the mad doctor ascended upward.

-

Miles walked around the labyrinth he was in, all the other Paranormal but one in tow.

"This shall be known as the Complex Zero." He said to himself. "My new base of operations. No one will find me here."

It was half filled with water. The place was a giant maze, usually trapping those who were foolish enough to enter it. As the secret prototype sewer for Station Square, it was almost unknown to people. The project was ditched because it was too expensive to maintain, and the city decided to build a sewer closer to the surface.

"I suppose that this place will need a little touching up to truly make it home." Miles mused. "Just have to wait to find the mayor…"

He had sent Spectre, the sixth Paranormal, to go and have a "chat" with the mayor of Station Square. He needed the city's full alliance, and Spectre's powers were more than enough to accomplish this.

-

The mayor walked into his office. It was the dead of night, and the crescent moon was visible through his massive window. In front of the window stood a figure. With his black fur and cloak, he looked almost like a shadow. He had his hands behind his back, each clasping the other.

"Who are you?!" The mayor demanded. "How did you get in my office?"

The man at the window said nothing.

"Who are you?! Tell me!"

"It certainly is a peaceful night outside, isn't it, Mayor Charles?" The figure began. "I am called Spectre. I am here to speak with you about your running of this city."

The figure turned around, revealing a face that would haunt him forever. The wolf looked like a vampire; he was tall and had fangs sticking out of his mouth, as well as pitch black fur to go with the darkness. He wore a black hooded cloak with a red interior, but he kept the hood down. His eyelids, if it was possible to decipher, were dark from lack of sleep, and his eyes were half lidded. He had a single silver earring in his left ear that gleamed in the moonlight. The man spoke quietly, almost tiredly, in his deep voice; but loud enough to be heard, and clear enough to have tons of bite to it.

Charles frowned, "As far as I know, I am doing nothing wrong. Besides the attack by Robotnik, maybe, but…"

"That man is our enemy." Spectre stated emotionlessly. "We wish to extend an offer for alliance. However, to do so, you must agree to follow me to our stronghold at Complex Zero. Will you come?"

"What is Complex Zero?" The Mayor asked.

"I'm afraid I cannot tell you that. You must meet our master in person to discuss the alliance."

"So what do I gain from this alliance?" Charles asked skeptically.

"The support of the Paranormal." Spectre supplied. His emotion hadn't changed once since beginning to talk. In fact, since then, he hadn't even moved a twitch save for his mouth. "We are a group dedicated to bringing eternal peace to the world. Station Square's resources will benefit us greatly. Not to mention that we can protect you from Robotnik as well. Is it a bargain?"

The mayor deliberated in his head for a moment or two. He then offered his hand to shake, saying that he agreed, but Spectre didn't shake it, instead placing his cold leather-gloved hand upon Charles' shoulder and vanishing, the mayor in tow.

-

"Welcome, Charles."

The mayor of Station Square looked around for the voice, but found none. The lights flickered on, and a fox boy was sitting on a decorated chair. He was wearing the same cloak as Spectre. His golden hair was tied in a ponytail but fell in front of his face some as well.

"You're kidding me." Charles said. "Your master is just a kid."

Spectre's voice appeared beside Charles, "I wouldn't speak of the master in such a disrespectful fashion, if I were you."

Miles stood up and walked toward Charles. The man was tall compared to the kid, but Charles knew that the fox knew a lot more than him about the workings of the world. "Do you know where we are?" Miles asked, dumbfounding the mayor with the sudden odd question.

"Spectre told me that it was a place called Complex Zero."

"Yes." Miles nodded. "however, we are several hundred feet below a place you are very familiar with. Complex Zero is actually below Station Square, the abandoned sewer project you were working on."

"But this looks nothing like it."

"I know. I had Vergil do a little housekeeping." He glanced briefly at the large tortoise. Said Mobian walked toward the conversation. "This is Vergil. He is my treasured assistant."

Charles nodded, acknowledging his presence.

Miles smiled at the mayor, "So, I believe Spectre explained to you the terms of the alliance. Do you agree? Will you join?"

Charles held out his hand for a handshake. "I do." Unlike Spectre, Miles actually shook his hand. Charles winced; the kid had a firm handshake.

Miles looked as if he had a sudden realization, then he faced the mayor. "Excuse me for my impoliteness. I go by Ragnarok. My real name is of no importance as I rarely go by it anymore." A white lie, but the mayor didn't need to know that.

Charles smiled, "Ragnarok, eh? It was a pleasure meeting you."

Miles smiled. "Ditto. Spectre will serve as our middleman for our discussions, as I cannot risk leaving Complex Zero without jeopardizing the organization. Having the powers that he does, he can leave without revealing the location of the base. I would also ask you to keep the location a secret, too, Mr. Charles."

Spectre placed his hand upon Charles again and they teleported back to the office. When Charles looked around, Spectre was gone. It was just him in his office. Charles smiled slightly and began to write papers, authorizing any action that the Paranormal would take if it didn't damage Station Square.

-

"Self discovery…" The figure with the gasmask sighed. Of course, the term was his goal but not in the sense one would think of it as.

He had discovered himself billions of years ago. He had known about every single aspect of life over a millennium gone. He knew everything there was to know. He knew how to travel back and forth through time, through dimensions, and through people's minds. He knew the best way to punish those that have scorned him millennia ago. He had seen everything. He had seen the extinction of humans, done through their own greed and wars. He had seen the extinction of Mobians, done through wars of their own. He had seen the end of the world, engulfed in the searing hot flare of the sun. He floated around in space and landed on another planet, undying even then, and set up shop there for hundreds of years. He had seen the dinosaurs, the first beginning of life, and then the period of time where Mobians didn't exist and humans dominated the earth. He had seen it all, every moment of history since the creation of the universe itself. He had meddled with the fabrics of time and space; he had meddled with people's fortunes and fates. He knew exactly which buttons to push to get which effects. Hell, he had even destroyed the earth himself at one point.

Simply put, he was bored to death now. He deeply regretted his craving for immortality so long ago. Billions and billions and billions of years ago.

Yet, even if he was over a hundred trillion years old, he looked as if he was twenty, all because of his genius idea for immortality. Who knew that life could end up being so _boring_?

He had taken to killing people now. Something else to do. He had taken to seeing those who had misused their life and extracting the potential for them to fix it. But now, even that was getting old. Here he waited; he waited for the one person that would bring a spark into his life. A dictator in training.

He had known this moment would happen exactly when it did: after all, he had done it several times. The person he needed accidently stumbled into the room right on cue.

Gasmask smiled.

The door opened. A small figure meandered around his torture devices, looking appalled at each. He wandered about some more until he bumped into Gasmask. The newcomer recoiled in shock, but loosened up when he saw that Gasmask meant no harm.

"What are you doing here?" The new person asked.

"Same can be asked to you, Miles." Gasmask replied. He smiled. "I wonder what you are doing in my home as well."

"Who are you?" Miles asked, wary.

Gasmask smiled under his mask. "Excuse me for my impoliteness. I go by Gasmask."

Miles frowned. "What's your real name?"

"That's a secret! If you think about it really hard, you might figure out who I am though."

Miles was confused. Not only had Gasmask quoted what he said to Charles to the dime, he also claimed that Miles knew his name already. How on earth would he know? He just met the guy!

"I'm sorry, but I don't know you." Miles said sternly.

"That's okay." Gasmask said. "I know you. Very well. That's all that matters I suppose..."

"I ask again. What are you doing in Complex Zero? Speak before I kill you." Miles drew a knife from his cloak and held it to Gasmask's throat.

Gasmask said nothing.

Miles drove the dagger into his throat and pulled it out. Satisfied, he returned it to his cloak and spoke.

"All you had to do was tell me. You just had to tell me why you were here. Was it that hard?" Miles recoiled back; Gasmask had copied his sentence word for word, at the exact same time.

Miles frowned. "Cute. You can copy me. Whoop-dee-do. Now die."

Miles left the room, muttering. "Creep."

He almost peed himself when he saw Gasmask at the other side of the door.

"I find it hard to die." Gasmask said simply. His black cloak was stained with blood at the neck, but the man was here, living and breathing.

"How can you not die?" Miles asked severely.

"That's a secret too. Let's just say that your earliest ancestor would call me ancient." He smiled.

Miles frowned at the secrets, but he was curious. "What's under the hood?"

Gasmask looked at Miles then said, "That's also a secret. You'd figure out who I am too fast then, at least if your mind is as clever as I have heard. That would be no fun, would it? Once you know who I am, then I will let you see my face." He gasped through his mask. "But not now."

Gasmask then looked at Miles' throne. "My, what a comfortable looking chair."

Miles dashed forward. "Oh no, you don't."

He sat in the throne before Gasmask could walk up to it.

Said masked man frowned and said sarcastically, "Dang it!" He did the overdramatic arm motions and everything. He then straightened up and said, "Well, Miles. In all seriousness, I've got things to do. Guess what? You may be seeing me again sometime in the future. Keep your eyes peeled."

And with that, Gasmask vanished into thin air.

Miles briefly wondered who that man was, but decided to think about that later. He had more pressing matters to attend to.

-

_And there it ends. Was that a good chapter? Sorry for the tardiness. I moved, so my internet was shut off, and I had a huge writer's block. But hey! I'm up to speed now, so yeah. No more excuses. Chapter 4, called Desperation, will be great and out in a week! _

_Bis dann!_

_-Evershroud_


	4. Desperation

It was a stormy night. The rain fell so hard that there was at least two inches of standing water on the streets. One man walked along the streets of the desolate city, quietly and unnoticeably, as if he was simply a shadow cast from the rooftops above.

He was a Mobian, but stood as tall as some humans. His midnight black fur allowed for camouflage not provided by anything else. His smile was deadly; a touch to a single fang of his could down an elephant in minutes. He was known as many things, an assassin, a vampire, a spy, a ghost, a renegade, a scout, a snake; but he was Spectre of the Paranormal.

He served his purpose well. The ability of his to teleport and melt through things are what had given him his name, and had been proven invaluable on many occasions. He was a pretty dark guy, many knew him. After all, when not spying for Miles or the Paranormal, he fell to casinos and bars. After all, the other Paranormal had to at least pretend to have social lives, and Spectre was one of them.

Gambling was a necessary way for the Paranormal to obtain money. And with Spectre, it was easy. After all, a nigh emotionless man like him had the ultimate poker face. A small smile crept onto his face. A lot of their funds came from his abilities.

He gazed at the massive building in front of him. It hadn't been long since he called this building home, about a month; but now that his enemy inhabited it, it seemed a lot more intimidating and deadly. Spectre's resolve was like steel, and he unflinchingly proceeded. If he was lucky, the Doctor hadn't changed the layout of the building much, and Spectre would be able to find his way around.

As he passed through a wall of the tower, he noticed that it indeed wasn't his lucky day as he entered a hallway that shouldn't be there. He frowned. Those stupid walls and their funky shifting abilities. Spectre frowned. He supposed that he would have to try to navigate this place.

He walked to the other wall of the hall and passed through it, appearing in a room that was similar to his own in the past. Not that that room had much in it. He looked at the room and looked at the desk. It happened to be Miles' own desk, back in the past. In a smart move, Miles had taken all of his research and destroyed it off the servers that Robotnik controlled. It was safe in the fox's own mind.

Spectre looked about the room for a few more minutes; then finding nothing interesting, passed through the wall to another room.

Here lied several machines whose purpose was unknown to Spectre. The wolf simply walked past them and was about to pass through another wall when he was stopped. A metallic claw grabbed at his neck, preventing his escape. A robot said from behind him, "State your purpose in these premises, intruder."

Spectre frowned, then passed through the robot and destroyed it from behind without a word. The black wolf continued onwards, stopping for nothing as he made his way through the halls.

He stopped when he saw a massive computer. He was in Robotnik's central control room, and it seemed that the man wasn't present at the current moment. Spectre took the moment to look at the computer screen, seeing what was on there. He searched through Robotnik's recent files, stopping at one labeled PROJECT SHADOW.

"_Hmm…"_ Spectre read the text on the screen. It detailed a project that Robotnik's grandfather, Professor Gerald Robotnik, had embarked on. It was supposedly a project to create the 'ultimate life form.'

"_Hah. We beat him there…"_

Apparently there was a hedgehog that was created off this project, relocated by GUN to an unknown location. There also was a prototype located in the space colony called ARK. There was a picture to the right of the article, but it was too low quality to really make anything out of it. Spectre smirked a bit and inserted a USB flash drive into the computer, quickly loading all sorts of files onto the drive. He then unplugged it from the computer and was about to turn around when he came face to face with Robotnik. The fat man laughed a bit then frowned.

"Who are you and what are you doing?"

Spectre only said this. "My name is Spectre of the Paranormal. I frankly don't care if you know who I am as it will not help you out anyway. I ask that you tell me the location of PROJECT SHADOW."

Robotnik apparently didn't approve as he threw a strong fist at Spectre. Said wolf disappeared into black smoke upon impact and reappeared behind Robotnik with a knife to his throat.

"Beware, Doctor. I am a skilled assassin. If you don't tell me where PROJECT SHADOW is, I will be forced to dispatch you."

"…Fine." Robotnik said.

Spectre pushed the knife closer. "Speak."

"He is at a place known as Prison Island."

Spectre removed the knife. "Good Doctor." The wolf didn't see Robotnik press a button on a small remote that put the entire tower in lockdown. All of the doors were closed and locked, as with the air vents and shafts. Even the bathroom toilets didn't go out anymore.

"Let's see you get out now, Spectre of the Paranormal."

And the wolf laughed. It was a hollow, emotionless laugh yet filled with amusement and joy. Spectre's fangs glinted dangerously at Robotnik. The laugh made Robotnik suddenly fearful. It was like something out of a horror movie.

"You are naïve if you think I will succumb to that, good doctor. You will never figure out how I got in because I'm sure that you heard that vampires are invisible to camera. Oh well. Goodbye, doctor. I must present my information to Miles."

And he vanished.

"Argh! Blasted fox!" Robotnik roared in dismay.

-

**Paranormal**

**Story Written by EternalFrost**

**Chapter 4 – Desperation**

-

Robotnik sat in a large throne-like revolving chair. He was at a massive control center located at the top of the clock tower. He looked around at the screens in front of him, each containing the visuals brought to him by various cameras hovering around Station Square.

"Squadron A, press forward." Robotnik barked into his microphone. Said group of robots did just that and proceeded into the city.

"This time, Charles, your city won't be so lucky."

-

"Check." Miles moved his bishop toward the black king. The computer assessed the situation for a moment, predicting any possible moves, and then decided to move its king one space forward.

"This is getting bland." The boy genius moved his knight over a few spaces. "That would be mate. You need some better programming patches."

The computer didn't respond. It wasn't programmed to. The only motion that it made that signaled Miles that it still was operative was that the king on the board fell over, signifying that the computer could come up with no more possible moves.

There was a large quake as the lights flickered.

"What the hell was that?" Miles mumbled to himself. He then closed his eyes and focused, summoning a Paranormal that he hadn't used before. "Let's see what's up there."

-

Rennaux ascended to the skies, flying up through an inconspicuous exit from Complex Zero. He was a hawk, and had large wings usable for flying. He soared over Station Square, seeing an army of robots, cursed. _"Robotnik's back."_

He flew over to the epicenter of the conflict, seeing an opportunity, used his ability and launched several hundred super sharp feathers, growing them back as fast as they came out. Quite a few robots from the group exploded.

-

Robotnik scowled. That was one of Miles' little pet projects. He ordered all of his robots to shield from aerial attacks and to the oddity of those at the field; the Robots produced an array of steel umbrellas.

"_Let's see you get through that, fox boy."_

-

Sonic the Hedgehog was coming back from another date with his girlfriend when he saw an armada of robots storm into the city. The hedgehog frowned. _"He just had to attack on another date, didn't he?"_

Sonic began running. No use worrying about that now. He use his homing attack on several bots, then saw a hail of things fall from the sky and destroy a group of robots. Sonic was mystified when the robots all produced metal umbrellas and deflected the next barrage of feathers.

Sonic hadn't seen many battles in his life. He knew that. If this was what happened in battles, then if he had lived a life of war, he would be insane.

The one that tossed the feathers landed next to Sonic. He was a brown hawk with a pair of large wings. The wings were folded, but Sonic could see the sharpness of the feathers. He shuddered, good thing those spikes didn't impact him, or he'd be history. He looked at the cloak. It had a hood, but the hawk wasn't wearing it. It was black on the outside, but had red satin on the inside.

Sonic's eyes widened, remembering the cruel eyed fox, Miles, with that cloak three years ago. The hawk apparently noticed Sonic's staring and said, "Good day to you, hedgehog. My name is Rennaux. Mind assisting me in this battle?" Rennaux outstretched his hand.

Sonic frowned, contemplating on declining the offer, but then again, these guys were attacking the city. He shook hands with the hawk, and then they began to fight.

-

She snuck silently along the vents. The only audible noise heard was her breathing, but even then, that was restricted to her only. The steady thumping of her heartbeat rang between her protruding ears; the blood was flowing through this Secret Service agent.

The unit of GUN called IU was about as secret as secret got. The uniform was simply a black, skintight leather suit. The suit itself was still a prototype. It contained two layers of very tough leather with a bullet catching liquid in between. There was only about a millimeter of space in between the two layers, however, so it still granted freedom of movement.

She was a bat who had a figure to die for. Her chest only seemed more pronounced from the suit, but right now, she couldn't have cared less. Her wings were folded behind her ready for use if need be. Her name was Rouge the Bat. She was the best at her job. Infiltration.

Of course, this infiltration that she was doing wasn't for GUN. No, it was for her own purposes. She heard whisperings that there was a chaos emerald located in this place, far underground. Of course, she never even knew that this place existed, so she stepped with the greatest of caution.

She avoided the red security lasers with practiced ease, utilizing her handy suction gloves to climb up and down the walls. She found herself inside of a giant room with a pair of fans at the bottom. There was another door at the bottom, but the air that the fans blew pushed Rouge up toward the holes in the ceiling, which the spy assumed, led to more air shafts. Taking her chances, she used her wings to redirect the air around her, landing softly on the ground beside the fans.

She snuck opened the door, pressing herself against the neighboring wall and cautiously peeping through it. Seeing that the coast was clear, she silently stepped through. The bat glanced back and forth, making sure no one was walking around in the halls.

Sighing in relief, she kept to the wall, looking for any and all security cameras in the complex. To her surprise, there were none. Or at least, none that were noticeable. The bat darted down to the other side of the corridor.

So the place was lacking in security, Rouge surmised, so it relied on its hidden location to safeguard it. She smirked, a bad move with her around.

There it was – Rouge looked with awe. A purple chaos emerald sat upon what looked like some sort of device that took energy from it. She stepped toward it, currently not noticing the slight movement to her right. As she reached to touch it, her hand went right through it. An illusion! She frowned; then it must have been somewhere else.

She turned around to come face to face with someone she didn't expect.

"Had enough looking around my Complex, bat girl?"

He was about as tall as her, but looked a lot younger. She had heard rumors of this boy, but she never believed that he existed in person. There was no way such a young boy could have such influence around the world. From his long hair to his inky black cloak, this boy had to be Miles Prower, Robotnik's former apprentice.

"You're one to talk, fox boy." Rouge replied snidely. She wasn't used to being caught, but then, she never usually made such clumsy moves while infiltrating either.

Instead of being insulted like she hoped him to be, he smiled. "Point taken." He said. "Like my hologram? I see you fell for it." He beckoned to the illusion. Rouge simply glared.

Miles pretended to look offended. "I won't just let you waltz into Complex Zero and take my power source. That would be stupid. If I had another emerald I _may_ have given it to you… but probably not."

Rouge's attention fell to one other detail. "How did you find me here? You hadn't had a single camera in those hallways out there."

The fox had the decency looked ashamed, "I confess that I did lack a bit on the security detail around the air shafts, so I suppose it was sheer luck that Spectre found you whilst reporting back to me from another assignment… No, I'm not telling you the details of that particular mission, don't even try." His gaze steeled. "However, you've fallen right into my lap, and I don't plan on you blazing to the entire world about my presence. I haven't the slightest clue on how you found my base, but I won't give you the chance to get out."

Rouge was shocked, "You're taking me prisoner?!"

"Why not?" Miles grinned, showing his enlarged canines. "I could interrogate you and get some info. I found some pretty neat torture devices in my closet the other day. Perhaps I could take those for a whirl. You know, you can be my guinea pig. That's a great idea."

He looked about. "I know that you know stuff about me. I'm sure you realize that my forte is with bioengineering… now maybe my more… risky, if you will, experiments will be testable. I sure don't want to waste Spectre on those. Maybe I should test the efficiency of some of my poisons… Or perhaps genetic manipulation. It'll be fun…" He deliberately trailed off, leaving Rouge to know how much trouble she was in.

Spectre appeared out of absolutely nowhere behind Rouge, hoisting her over his shoulder. "I guess I could show you around, if you're that interested." Miles spoke, before walking out of the room, Spectre and an unwilling Rouge in tow.

"Put me down!" She yelled at him, pounding against a noncompliant Spectre's back. Said wolf simply ignored her.

-

Rennaux threw several more of his feather darts at the robots that Sonic's spindash missed. He was barely fatigued, but long range fighters never usually get tired. He sensed a robot sneaking up behind him and slashed it with a sword hidden in his cloak.

"You're good at fighting for a civilian." Rennaux commented.

"Thanks." Sonic replied back.

But their advantage was shattered when a large fleet of enormous ships came hovering above. They landed as quickly as they came and produced several large robots. Sonic liked to think of himself as adaptable, but when these things came out with their rocket launchers and their laser cannons, it was hard to believe that he would make it.

"Shoot." He muttered.

-

Sergeant Seraph Giovanni was known among the troops as an intelligent strategist. He was able to use obtained information to make a nigh unbeatable strategy to use. Unfortunately, with the layout of the clock tower that Robotnik inhabited, he couldn't help but swear.

His spy had somehow gotten the layout _all wrong_.

"Shit!" He swore sharply, pacing back and forth as he wondered on what to do. He had the _best_ strategy too, but somehow, it was wrong.

Perhaps he should just forsake strategy for simple overrunning? Would that work? He grinned. _"Why not?"_

"Sir." He spoke to his commanding officer, Hayden. "The layout of the building has changed. My new recommendation: Attack at will. Permission granted?"

Hayden seemed to be in thought for a moment, and then turned to Seraph. "Affirmative, Sergeant. I shall order the soldiers." He then turned on his wristwatch communicator and spoke. "Soldiers, new direct order from the Commander. Attack at will: Anything that doesn't bear the logo of G.U.N. is to be destroyed. Questions?"

He waited three seconds, and, receiving none, turned his communicator off.

-

Lieutenant Sven Winston, also affectionately named Lt. Volt by his comrades, began to rub his hands together quickly. He was the only soldier in the entire organization of G.U.N. that was allowed to walk around unarmed. The only weapon that he carried at this time was a rather large bazooka strapped to his back. Once his hands were sufficiently charged, he grabbed his weapon, hoisting the massive gun and pointing it with just a single arm, and fired a massive electricity bolt that flew towards its target, a large congregation of robots, and caused a massive explosion.

He was born with the power to control electricity. No one knew where exactly it came from, or how it showed up in his genes when his parents were normal average Joes.

He put his gun back on his strap and rubbed his hands together more, before thrusting them out and sending a massive shockwave out at the robots, causing their wireless signals to blank out and their sudden turning around and crashing into one another. That was before his lightning strikes made them explode, one after another.

Volt smiled smugly, he loved being the one that usually handled the robots.

"Did you handle the bogies in Section 4?" A voice spoke from the other end of the communicator.

"Affirmative, commander." Winston replied in a in his bittersweet voice. "They are all gone."

"You are our greatest weapon against Robotnik, Lieutenant. Don't go into situations that you can't handle, we may lose you."

"Don't worry, commander. I'll be fine."

Hayden rolled his eyes at the other end. "Whatever."

-

"Shit!" Robotnik cursed. "They've found me." They being G.U.N.

He began to pace around in his command room. He wasn't about to be gone yet; his ambitions remained unfulfilled. This poisoned world needed a ruler to keep it in line, and who better to do it than he? The large man walked back and forth, his massive cloak swaying behind him.

He had changed since Prower left. His drive for revenge caused him to do some… unholy modifications to himself. His black cloak was what covered him now, his head and left arm being the only things visible from the black fabric. A crimson representation of his personal emblem was stitched onto the back of it. His face was wrapped up in black bandages, his left eye and mustache being the only visible parts of it.

His experimentations upon himself had mutated his body somewhat; his visible eye was all black save for the small blood red pupil. He could see in every direction at once and through walls too. So with that fact in mind, he wasn't surprised at all when he saw some G.U.N. officers storm through his door. There were at least twenty of them, forming in a circle around Robotnik. He smiled when he saw the one that was the highest rank, the one he assumed to be in command of the operation. He also smiled at the familiarity.

"Oh, hello officers. Can I help you?" He asked wryly, his face still locked in a grin underneath the coverings. "And hello to you too, Paranormal."

Hayden seemed to flinch at that, but maintained his composure. "You are not one to talk, Robotnik. We outnumber you one to twenty five."

"Miles, you are always one for small talk, eh?" He spoke to Hayden. This confused the soldiers, as they were sure that their commander's name was Hayden. Robotnik caught their perplexed looks and said, "Oh, so you didn't tell them? What a shame, Miles. You see officers, that is actually my student standing in front of you, or at least, one of his many bodies."

"My name is Hayden." The dog said vehemently. "And this is the end for you, warmonger." He pointed both arms forward. "Prepare for death!"

All of a sudden, panels opened up in Hayden's arm and were launched toward the mustached man. There were at least fifty of them, all of them screamed toward their target, resulting in a massive explosion that surely killed Robotnik.

But when the smoke cleared, there was a metal sphere where the criminal was once standing. Then, it began to unravel into tentacles that retreated under the right side of his cloak.

"Interesting technique…" The mad doctor mumbled. He then grinned. "I would love to test my abilities against multiple opponents, but I would really like to fight you alone." And then tentacles shot out, stabbing every officer besides Hayden and Seraph, who both dodged.

"Sergeant, get out of here." Hayden said, not facing away from Robotnik.

"But I wish to stay here and fight." He replied, not moving.

"That was a direct order, soldier! You are our best tactician, you cannot be lost! Now go!"

Seraph turned and ran out. Robotnik only grinned wider.

"Good. It's just me and you. Let us finish this, shall we?"

"Of course."

And Hayden opened up by launching another barrage of missiles. Robotnik dodged all of them, preferring to counterattack with missiles of his own.

The result was a bit explosion between them. Hayden's eyes widened in shock when he noticed metallic tentacles snake out from the smoke. As they wrapped around him, Robotnik laughed madly. The tentacles charged with electricity, shocking Hayden.

"Aughh!" He screamed in pain.

"A ha ha ha!" Robotnik laughed. "This is the end for you!"

-

Miles looked at his prisoner with some contempt. She hadn't spilled anything that he already didn't know.

"You're good." He said to Rouge firmly, hiding his anger. "You must have been trained very well."

"I have." The bat spoke, trying again to break free of the bonds that held her to the wall, but to no avail.

Miles seemed to stare off into space for a single moment, before speaking again. "It seems that something has come up that requires my most desperate attention. Spectre will continue interrogating you. I shall see you later."

And he walked out.

Rouge looked at his retreating form before speaking to herself.

"What a weird guy."

-

"Don't play with your food, Robotnik. You know that it loses its taste if you do."

Robotnik's eyes widened at that smug voice. He whipped around, dropping Hayden. "Where are you, fox boy?!" He screamed.

"Right here." Miles tapped Robotnik's shoulder. The man bolted around again and spoke. "You… What gives you the _nerve_ to come back here after what you did?"

Miles put on a pained expression, surely fake. "Well, you see… You would definitely be a thorn in my side if I let you live. I realized that too late. I mean, look at you! You've done stuff to your body already! I'll bet there's more to it than I see, too!"

In the young fox's hand was a long double-ended lance. It was made out of metal, and painted with odd designs on it. He twirled it like a baton and made a move to shove it through Robotnik. It was caught by a tentacle.

"My point, exactly." Miles said wryly.

Robotnik just laughed and attempted to wrench it from the other's hands. The fox's grip was strong, though, so instead of the tentacle getting the lance, Miles ripped the tentacle from Robotnik's body.

"Aughh!" He hissed. A new tentacle grew back right before Miles' eyes.

"Regenerative metal. Something I could never figure out. Very interesting, doctor." The fox said tonelessly.

The two continued trading blows. Miles extended his lance toward Robotnik's head, which he returned with a swift kick to the feet. As Miles tripped, he spun around and pressed his hands to the floor, using his strength to launch himself up into the air. As he soared, he pointed the shaft of his weapon downward and embraced it with his arms and legs, forcing it to come downward straight onto his former teacher's head. Robotnik didn't let this happen, and instead of being impaled, he launched several missiles to home in on his student before escaping to the back, watching as the twin-tailed fox was caught in the blast.

"Over here." He heard a voice. Spinning around, he met a flying kick to his face. He fell over. Miles thrust his spear downward, aiming for the larger man's face. Robotnik rolled and wrapped his nemesis in his metallic coils.

"This is the end for you. I'll enjoy this…" He smiled as he spoke quietly. As one of his bladed tentacles bit into his chest and continued down, blood began pouring out. Then he was hit by a barrage of missiles.

"Not quite…" Miles grinned, blood running out of his lips as his heart was nearly pierced. He focused a bit, and then smiled as Spectre appeared. The black wolf teleported Miles back to Complex Zero, leaving Hayden to deal with his troops.

Robotnik, however, frowned. He knew the clock tower wasn't safe anymore. Then, a smile graced him. He knew exactly where to go.

The ARK.

-

Miles lay in his personal hospital room, an IV drip inserted into his arm and a breather on his face. No one was in the room but one lone figure.

"An admirable job you did, Miles…" He spoke, his hood not coming off. Gasmask breathed through his respirator noisily, but no one noticed. "Causing Robotnik to flee from the tower like that."

He paced back and forth. "You don't mind if I speak with him, do you? I thought not." He smiled wryly under his mask. "I didn't expect any response from one who is comatose."

He fumbled around through his coat, producing a white chemical stored in a syringe. "This is very important for you in the future… One… Two… Three…"

He stuck the needle into Miles. "Pinch."

He looked back and forth for a while before vanishing.

-

Robotnik growled at the memories of his loss. He had lost possession of the clock tower, an invaluable resource, to be cooped up in this stupid flying space ball.

"I envy you, Miles." He spoke. "I envy your ability to work through things… I really do."

He paced around some more, before nearly having a heart attack at the figure in front of him.

"You can envy all you want, but that won't change the facts, Robotnik…" A voice said from the darkness.

Robotnik turned around. "Who's there?!"

"It is I, doctor." Behind Robotnik was a figure with a hood. "Another man from the world."

"I know you…" The man said.

"Do you? I believe that this is your first time meeting me… Or not. I suppose it depends on how you consider it." He gasped through his mask. "I go by Gasmask. My real name is of no importance."

"Gasmask." Robotnik acknowledged. "Why are you here?"

"To have a meeting with you, no doubt."

"About what?"

Gasmask smiled. "The events of the world. Not to sound rude, but you will die eventually."

"So will everyone else." The mustached man said defiantly.

"You will die in ten years, fifty one days. I will die on that same day… Funny how things turn out, huh?"

"What's your point?"

"That's a secret."

Robotnik was confused. _"Who is this guy?"_ "What do you want here?"

"Simple. I'm sure you know about Miles Prower, your former student, correct? He has become powerful." Gasmask watched the other narrow his eyes at the name.

"What of him?"

"He has met someone earlier… Rouge the Bat. If you want to break him mentally, kill her."

Why did Gasmask look like he regretted saying that?

"How do you know this? Who are you?"

The masked man paused for a moment before sighing. "I suppose there's no harm in telling you."

And he pulled off his hood and mask. Robotnik almost fainted. "How?"

"Don't worry. I have not come here to kill you. Let's just say… I am a time traveler. Miles… He will die. Remember that. You have ten years, fifty one days before you die. Good luck."

And he walked away; Robotnik was still appalled at who he was.

-

_Okay. Let me establish this… I am DONE with time limits for myself. :) This chapter kinda went slowly. But hey, this is five thousand words. I think it was worth it somewhat, eh?_

_So, who do you think Gasmask is? Why is Robotnik so afraid? I warn you, don't look at the reviews of this story because I bet SOMEONE will get it right._

_Then again, there will be all of the wrong guesses, too._

_Bis dann!_

_-EternalFrost (My new penname.)_


	5. Imperia

_Everything here is… unnatural…_

Knuckles practiced more stances, getting a feel for his fighting style. He lifted a fist in the air, took a rough step forward and threw a punch. The resulting force blew the air away and uprooted three trees more than a hundred yards away. There was a mystical looking green glow about him, and it seemed to flare whenever he moved.

_I have aided you in becoming powerful… Now, use this power to crush that unnatural stain on this soil…_

His eyes opened suddenly, the green energy about him dispersing. "Yes, Master."

-

Sonic sat watching the television. Things weren't the same since Station Square was taken over by Robotnik.

He had failed at defeating the force of Robots, along with that hawk, Rennaux.

There had been a huge armada of airships, beaming lasers down onto the population below.

So Sonic was not surprised when the television program he had been watching turned to a face of Robotnik.

"Greetings, people of Earth! I, Dr. Ivo Robotnik, have a very important announcement to make! Currently, I am aboard the Space Colony ARK, a space station that was shut down about fifty three years ago. The world will be under my control! If one of your leaders doesn't agree, I will fire my Eclipse Cannon and wipe his country off of the map! Oh yes, I bet your wondering what the Eclipse Cannon is, eh?

"It basically fires a condensed gamma ray at about forty two million miles per second at such a power that it can demolish a star. Unfortunately, I don't have the resources to power it so much, but I can power it enough to blow a hole in this planet. Oh yes, so you had better give control of this planet to me, or you will find yourself one country short. You have twenty-four hours to contact me with your answer. If I don't get an answer, I'm assuming that you want to keep control of your country and I shall blow it up."

He laughed maniacally. "Let this be your only warning. Now, to resume your scheduled program."

And Sonic was immediately worried.

-

_This place is a stain upon the earth… Knuckles, destroy it._

He was facing a large metal building. It had the emblem of G.U.N. on it. The red echidna god into a fighting stance.

"I shall do as you ask, Master."

And he forced some of his chaos energy out, blowing a hole through the wall. Knuckles walked in, his bright aura alerting several to his presence.

"Master wants you dead." He droned; delivering sharp punches to their heads, unflinching as their skulls caves in and their brains were clearly visible. He backed up a bit and forced himself to the side. He punched through a wall and leaped through. Seeing no one there, he ran again, destroying everything in his path; computers, artillery, nothing was spared.

He was ordered to erase this unnatural stain on the planet by a higher, divine, force. He would do nothing but oblige.

"Halt."

Knuckles turned around. Behind him stood a single hedgehog, dressed up in the standard G.U.N. uniform. He read the name tag. _General Shadow the Hedgehog_

"Oh, General, I didn't see you there." Knuckles said mockingly. His green aura flared with his anger. "Perhaps you should step out of my way if you want to live."

Shadow ignored his taunt, and rather began to glow with a red aura. "I am a part of chaos energy. It seems you are as well, echidna. No doubt I am more adept than you at controlling this force. I will not be arrogant, though, but know this: I was trained for years by the Commanding General himself. Realistically, you will not last long against me." He made the first move, "Chaos Spear!"

And Knuckles was forced to dodge dozens of red energy spears that materialized out of nowhere. He managed, and escaped the crossfire without a nick on him. "Hm. Is that all you've got?"

"You are formidable, but that was merely an opener." Shadow spoke. He focused his energies, performing a Chaos Control and appearing behind Knuckles in a burst of energy. "Prepare for death. Chaos Hail!"

And the red echidna dodged a barrage of exploding red spheres. He ran up to Shadow and aimed to punch him, but was blocked by a barrier. He appeared behind the echidna in a blur and threw a swift kick at his opponent's back. "You missed."

But Knuckles was not there. "No, _you _missed." And Shadow felt a pain worse than he had ever felt. He wiped a gloved hand on his back, and recoiled at the sight of the blood staining the white fabric. This was it; he was enraged. The red energy around him began to flicker, much like fire, and he spoke. "Detaining you seems to not be an option. Very well, I will kill you."

The wound on his back healed faster than it had appeared, and the hedgehog growled. "Chaos Blast!"

Knuckles had to defend with all of his might to fend off the massive explosion. He had survived, but his arms were burnt badly and nearly useless. "You little…"

Shadow smirked. "Nothing will save you now." He focused the energy into his hands and brought it forward. "Chaos Lance!"

And a single beam shot out, and stabbed Knuckles in the heart. Or, it would have if the echidna didn't conjure a barrier in the nick of time. "Heh. Is that it?" Knuckles stood up, trembling from the sudden onslaught of fatigue. "Watch this… Chaos… Typhoon!"

And he began to spin. The winds picked up, and Shadow was shocked to find that the gusts of wind was turning out to be like little blades. He noticed the cuts start to appear. They were getting bigger and bigger. His miraculous healing powers held them off for a while, but as the cuts got bigger and bigger, the typhoon began to become stained with swirling blood. Shadow roared in pain and put a knee to the floor, whimpering in the sheer agony of it all. One blade of wind had cut his left arm off, and took the severed limb with it.

Then, a single tranquilizer dart flew through the storm and pierced Knuckles' shoulder. The typhoon stopped, leaving an unconscious echidna and a bleeding mess of a hedgehog.

"Knuckles the Echidna, you are under arrest for destruction of G.U.N. property." Commanding General Hector Sykes stood firmly in the doorway, rifle in hand.

-

**Paranormal**

**Written By EternalFrost**

**Chapter 5 – Imperia**

-

Miles looked up at the roof of his chamber. He was currently in bed, healing from the injuries given to him by Robotnik. As he watched the lights go brighter and dimmer, he frowned.

The Master emerald shouldn't have activated this early. He didn't want it to disrupt his power source.

So he grabbed a sketchpad beside him and began to scribble furiously. It would be unknown to others what he was doing, but to him, it made perfect sense.

"Let's see… restrainer in the upper-left quadrant… Do we want a circle…? How about a diamond… Okay… Circumscribe the tilde… Grafts around the diamond… and… there."

Yes, he had a habit of talking to himself. When he was done, he admired his handiwork. But that didn't last for long as he called Spectre to the room. A silent command was given through one mind, and Spectre departed with the drawing.

He showed up in the room with the purple chaos emerald and quickly placed the drawing on top of the jewel. He put his hands together and spoke. "Hex: Outside Energy Interference Filter… Lockdown."

The drawing burst into purple flames as the design was imprinted onto the emerald. He smiled, that way; the Master Emerald couldn't stop the activity of this one. Quite ingenious, actually.

There were black lines all over the chaos emerald now, and once they finished spreading, the lights stopped flickering. The hex had worked.

-

Gasmask sat down in his chamber, a simple cup of coffee in hand. In front of him was a laptop, keeping data of about everything he found necessary. His mask was discarded on the same table that the cup's coaster was located.

He was reading up on some information that he had hacked from a remote server. Normally, that server would be more than secure, powered by the latest technology in the world. There was nothing Gasmask couldn't hack. Be it the G.U.N. servers whose info lay in front of him, Robotnik's computer mainframe, or right down to Miles' personal records.

It interested him greatly to figure out that the boy could use hexes already. Admittedly, he _knew_ this would happen, but he played this like a game where he didn't know where the pieces would end up in the end. Even so, this was different. He knew what dice would be tossed, what number would come up, what cards would be played, everything.

It didn't stop him from the occasional surprise, however. Hexes weren't a skill easily mastered, and to find many blueprints of extremely complex hexes had surprised him.

He sipped his coffee and grinned. Maybe Miles would like a present. There were some flaws with those hexes. He opened up a file that he had downloaded from the fox's server recently. It was a large, complicated hex stored in image format, its two dimensional matrixes laid out in front of him.

This hex had a major flaw. It was designed to release built up chaos energy in a massive wave. Of course, that wave would vaporize everything around it; even Gasmask in all of his immortality couldn't defend from that.

Miles would not use that hex. That was not how the game was played.

He began to scribble several inscriptions on the seal itself, adding the occasional graft about the new circles. He then erased some of Miles' marks and changed them to his own needs.

He smiled, saving the project naturally. He was about to upload it back onto Miles' server when he figured there was a more extravagant way to deal with this.

He opened a blank email and began typing.

_Dear Miles._

_This world is a game, and this conflict is a game. Treat it like one._

_I've been looking around your servers recently… You know, I was bored, needed something to do. I found this hex on there. Were you designing a cannon by any chance? Perhaps, it would be powered by this hex that I found?_

_Well, if I hadn't caught this and you activated it, guess what? Half this planet would have been nothing but floating atoms, unable to bond because they were radiating with the leftover chaos energy and thus would repel absolutely everything they came in contact with. _

_In a nutshell, that hex equals big no-no._

_BUT, I fixed it, and attached the new image to this message. Lucky you. _

_Remember, play by the rules, or it's game over for you._

_Love, Gasmask._

_P.S. No matter how you play the game, it will end in ten years, fifty-one days. Who will be the winner? That's for you to decide._

_P.S.S. I'm not gay._

And then, he proofread it before clicking send.

-

It had been twenty four hours.

Robotnik was pacing around, back and forth. There was one country that hadn't sent a reply to him yet.

Either the United Federation was damn cocky or just plain stupid. No matter, the plan would start now. He wandered over to a device in the wall. There were seven slots in it; one of them had a chaos emerald inside.

"Goodbye, impudent fools."

He pressed a button that was below it, clearly labeled "launch," and then wandered back to his command chair, relishing its plush feel.

Perhaps he needed a drink. He pressed a button on the top and grinned as a robotic hand poured out some scotch in a large glass. Robotnik unraveled the bandages on his head as he took the pint and took a sip.

"There will be peace. I will rule it with an iron fist."

-

Miles was angry. That was the understatement of the year. His anger simply could not be defined by any word in the English dictionary.

First off, Gasmask, the arrogant fool, had the audacity to correct him in his oh-so-brilliantly laid out hex. Hexes were his pride and joy, a skill he treasured beyond even his engineering and biological prowess.

Yes, the masked mystery's words _were_ true, but still. No one goes correcting _him_ like that.

And then he even was so bold as to tell him when he would die. The future could not be predicted; he would survive that day. At that day, he would only be twenty-one years old, not nearly done with life, just out of adolescence.

Just into the legal drinking age.

He frowned. That anger was overshadowed when he figured out that the White House, A relic from over two thousand years past and important United Federation government office had been bombarded with the Eclipse Cannon's laser. That weapon was supposed to have been shut down years ago!

Yes, he had seen the announcement made by Robotnik the day before, but nonetheless, that sent Miles' plans in a complete U-Turn.

His cannon physically was nearing completion. He hadn't decided on a name yet, but right now, it was codenamed Project: Blitzkrieg.

He walked into the room that contained the thing. It was colossal. A gigantic metal cylinder, it stretched to about two hundred feet long. It was being worked on by a large group of robotic limbs, receiving the material from the belts below.

One of the many uses of the SR-STAT system.

Miles wasn't wearing his familiar cloak of the past. Not only had it been ruined when Robotnik nearly shredded it to bits, it was rather cumbersome and unwieldy for him to use with his rather wild fighting style. Since he had to bend many ways for him to fight effectively, he had procured a more suitable outfit. He now simply wore a skin-tight bodysuit, making sure his favored lance was strapped to his back. His ponytail, now visible, fell down his back, over his weapon. It was still uncut, sheer laziness prohibiting him from trimming it. His two tails, now not withheld by his previous clothing, swung lazily about behind his back. Like his hair, he had never bothered to trim the fur on them, causing to become two furry masses sticking out from the end of his vertebrae.

Ever since his fight with Robotnik, he had become infinitely more cautious. It he hadn't had Hayden with him, he would have died. He now carried his weapon with him, keeping it in sight at all times, and always kept his stance ready so that he could dash in any direction at any time. One near-death experience was enough for him, thanks.

He smiled at the progress his machines had made; this was definitely one of the hardest projects he had embarked upon, by far. It had taken his mastery of hexes (he deliberately left out the fact that without Gasmask's correction, he wouldn't be walking now) and engineering and pushed both to a new level.

He looked around, up and down his unfinished masterpiece. He thought a bit before speaking. "New commands."

Looking up, he began. "Hex currently on Blitzkrieg is to be erased, new hex to be replaced: Source file attachment of email from Gasmask received today at 0756 hours. End new commands. Proceed."

The machinery stopped for a moment before continuing, replacing the written symbols with Gasmask's new ones.

"_These had better be right…"_ Miles thought.

-

"_Milord, everything is going on as you predicted."_

"_As I knew it would. Tell me, Volt… Is my coffee ready?"_

"_It will be brought shortly, Milord. Why?"_

"_Craving…"_

The newly revealed Volt nodded shortly. _"Is there anything else?"_

"_Remember, you are a sorcerer. Another in this plot is a sorcerer, like you. The cat and the peacemaker are together. Now, the demon and the misguided are coming together. Shall we look at that?"_

"_He has shown incredible control with chaos energy, milord."_

"_Yes, and that is why fate had him pitted against Shadow, a being who I gifted with chaos control as well. The Master Emerald can only do so much, you see. It is just a rock."_

"_Isn't that rather risky, speaking of such a powerful being like that?"_

"_Oh yes, but its own chaos energies will destroy the foul thing anyways. Chaos, in itself, can never be controlled. Ever. There is a reason why it's called chaos."_

"_I see."_

"_Now, to view the demon and the misguided come together. Come watch, Voltie."_

"…_Voltie?"_

-

Sonic looked on at the building. It was a place known as Prison Island, a place that, among prisons, had the most maximal security to exist. No one had ever left the confines of that place. And no one ever would.

He had felt an odd sense of energy flow out and about from somewhere, and he had tracked it to this place. It was weird, but perhaps one of the prison's inmates was the source of this energy. He didn't even want to know why he had gone all of this way, but he just _had_ to find out.

So he infiltrated the rooftop vents. Easy enough. The cameras were rather few up there, and if he went fast enough, he could avoid their senses.

He had eventually reached the barracks, following this trail of enticing energy. It stopped. He turned around and saw a lone cage. It was underwater, protected in one of the highest security aquarium cells to exist.

A single red echidna sat in there. He looked rather harmless, actually. Sonic made his way to the cage. The inmate looked hopefully at him, and the hedgehog produced the key he had stolen and unlocked the door.

This echidna was the source of the energy. He felt it. He knew it. Sonic had one question to ask.

"What's your name?"

The echidna replied. "Knuckles."

Having another thought, the hedgehog pressed further. "Why are you here, in one of the most secure places on the planet?"

"I…" Knuckles thought. Why was he here? He had absolutely no memory of the past few days at all. "I don't know…"

He was an amnesiac.

-

Miles walked into one of the most secure chambers of his complex. Inside were two figures. He had known already, though. He had put them there, after all.

"Spectre, Rouge." He greeted. Yes, He was Spectre; Spectre was him, but he still had to act like he was a different person so as not to confuse Rouge.

"So, am I out? Your buddy didn't even bother to ask me any questions, anyways." Rouge spat, fed up with being in Miles' custody.

"Of course not, where would the fun be in that?" He smiled brightly, something the bat never wanted to see again. "He just prepared you for my last question."

"Oh?"

"Yes. You see, I know you know, and don't deny me this. Where is Shadow the Hedgehog currently located?"

She paused for a moment. After balancing her options, she asked, "Will you let me go if I tell you?"

"If your answer is correct, you will have your freedom."

She hesitated. "Prison Island. He is stationed at Prison island."

Miles bit off a curse. "Might as well go there myself then. I'll bring Spectre with me, but he would get flattened on his own…" He then thought for a moment. "Vergil would be good to bring, too. Very good."

He then looked away as Spectre was to unbound his prisoner. "And you, Rouge, will also accompany me. If I fall into a trap, you will fall with me."

-

Rouge was mystified at how the group fought. She was at first repulsed by the fact that the large tortoise, Vergil, had six arms, but then learned it was a malformation that Miles had… fixed, if you will.

Although Miles never had told her that the malformation was perfectly intentional.

Spectre was an adept fighter, also. His combat skills with a simple dagger were unmatched, and with his ability to faze in and out of existence, he was a force to be reckoned with.

But when she saw Miles, she knew that he could take both of his subordinates on and win. He worked a lance beautifully. His speed and grace were unchallenged, and she was surprised to see just how well his body worked.

_He has the strength of a pro wrestler… He isn't even a teenager!_

She knew that the fox was a force to be reckoned with, so as he and his comrades plowed through the G.U.N. robots, she wondered why he needed bodyguards.

She didn't hear about his skirmish with Robotnik, then, did she?

She stopped when she heard speaking, like, not "I'm gonna kill you!" kind of speech, but actually _civilized_ talking. She looked on and noticed to more people with Miles and his group.

-

Sonic walked down the chamber, intent on seeing just what was making that horrendous racket. Knuckles was in tow, following his every step with loyalty.

The echidna announced his unending servitude and subordination to the other when he had been freed. The speed demon told him it wasn't necessary, but he continued anyways.

So when he found just who was making that noise, he was reminded of some memories that he would rather forget. The cloak of the black wolf, and the earrings that they all wore. What worried him the most were the seven earrings that the smallest, center one was wearing.

"_Saving this world from a collection of fools."_

"_The world's dying, Sonic."_

"_We will rid the planet of the unholy desire that had cloaked it so."_

He knew…

"_My name is Miles Prower. Pleasure to meet you, Sonic the Hedgehog. I must be going now."_

"You!"

Miles turned to the newcomer. Upon looking over him, he smiled. "Oh, hello Sonic. Fancy seeing you here of all places."

"What are you doing here?"

"Have you seen a Shadow the Hedgehog around here, by any chance?" Neither echidna nor hedgehog answered, so Miles continued. "Okay. Just making sure. Feels like I've been given some wrong info. Can you help me out?"

"Why would I help you? I saw you walking around with Robotnik three years ago. You're allied with the man that has stolen my city, my home! Why would I help _you_?!"

The fox said nothing for a moment. His featured noticeably dulled. He spoke. "Then we both have an enemy in common, Sonic. The Dark Dawn is no more. We are the Paranormal."

"What makes you think that you have split up with him just like that? This could be a ploy to get me in his grasp."

"How astute of you, Sonic." The fox remarked. "But, I would never do that. His plans got in the way of mine, so I left him. End of story. Now, we both have a mutual enemy, so I will extend an offer.

"Join the Paranormal with me, and we will crush him."

-

_And that chapter went by fast._

_Whoa, just when I said that it would probably take longer than a week to get most chapters out, I get one done in five days. The irony, huh?_

_Yes, I know this is a bit shorter than last time, but it's about the same length as the three previous._

_Okay, so I have a huge thanks to extend to a faithful reviewer of mine known as Master Metallix. Ever since I started this little story out, he/she has been there with me all the time, reviewing every chapter, giving me constructive criticism, and the like. Well, right now, a gigantic thanks to him/her for keeping me motivated. Thank you so much, Metallix!_

_So yeah, how do you think Sonic will react? And the Milord/Student duo has finally shown up again, with the student revealed to be Volt! How do you think that will twist the plot? Do you have any questions, comments, or advice to share? Is this story going to your liking? Well, please review and share your opinion, I really appreciate it._

_Danke shun, (Yes, some other German this time, it means thank you)_

_-EternalFrost_


	6. Blitzkrieg

Gasmask sometimes considered himself invincible

He knew when his death would come, but somehow, after his long life, he could only hope that his prediction would be false.

After all, he had indeed lived for eons. He had grown addicted to living.

So he wandered around the world, picking up as much knowledge as he could over the time. He had killed people for fun, well, they technically killed themselves, but he nonetheless killed them.

And he was starting to feel it. The life of a murderer and a schemer, everything seemed to be falling down on top of him.

But still, he had one last mission to complete, and that was to see this story 'til the end.

He got up from the plush chair in his undisclosed, and rather small, hideout. He wasn't into the massive, sprawling labyrinths of lairs that Miles and Robotnik chose to have. A single little room suited him well enough.

Admittedly, it is hard to create a pocket dimension, and to maintain one of even this size would require powers bordering that of a god to perform. Oh, he had maintained a bigger space before, just not for thirty thousand years.

That takes a toll on one's body, after a while. But it was necessary.

He walked over to the display case beside him. Inside, was a mysterious weapon known as the Shadowlight. It was a kwon dao, an archaic Chinese weapon that came from around three thousand years ago. There was an oddly styled blade, it had many points extruding from it in some sort of a decorative pattern, but there were hexes so powerful on it that it made his own powers seem weak in comparison.

Yes, actually. He did _not_ craft this magnificent piece of weaponry. He actually came to receive it through a paradox in time. It was literally impossible to figure out just who made this weapon.

He had it for billions of years, and there wasn't a scratch on it. Not one.

"We have one war left, old partner." Gasmask said to his weapon. As expected, he didn't get a response. He would be rather surprised if it _did_ respond. "Just one more."

The kwon dao merely sat there.

-

**Paranormal**

**Written by Obsidian Fireheart**

**Chapter 6 – Blitzkrieg**

**-**

"So, I extend an offer. Join the Paranormal with me; and we will crush him." Miles spoke.

His extended hand was batted away, Sonic had no time for these games: He had to get out! "I don't need you." He spat bitterly.

"Suit yourself." The fox boy shrugged. "I'm merely here to locate Shadow. If you can't help me, I'll be leaving."

He beckoned to Rouge, who came to him, before wandering down further into the corridor.

-

As the alarms continued to blare, Miles was seen sprinting down the chambers. He, Vergil, and Spectre had split up long ago, abandoning safety for efficiency. He needed to find that hedgehog. There was a little part of him that believed that Rouge wasn't lying, as much as he hated to admit it. He drove his lance through more enemy robots before leaping over a large, conveniently placed pit. He was confident that he would make it over until he realized that gravity perhaps wasn't on his side. With a frown, he noticed that the other end seemed to go further and further up until it was towering above him.

Damn it all, he had fallen into the pit.

-

Vergil scowled at Rouge's incessant whining. He walked to a door and glanced at it carefully. Caring not what was on the other side, he kicked it in, forcing several robot guards backward in the process. The sentries did as they were programmed to but made it nowhere near defeating the large tortoise. Vergil's hardy body made him resistant to most if not all of their simple laser attacks and they had almost no melee potential at all.

So after he made it through the next batch of robots, he scanned the room he had just entered.

It was in a state of horrible disrepair. There were a few destroyed sentries. A giant burn mark tarnished the floor, along with many odd scars along the floor and walls; it was like someone keying a car, only there were so many cuts that Vergil couldn't see this being done just quickly. The lights were still on, but the safety glass covering them was scarred as well, scattering the light in odd patterns around the room in a prismatic effect.

He then looked for any signs of people entering and leaving. The Mobian-shaped hole in the wall was rather obvious, but the fight had been between two people. It looked like it had gotten out of hand, then… Those footprints in the metal.

They wouldn't have been there unless someone was standing under considerable pressure. What kind of pressure would that be?

The cuts decorating the room gave him the answer. Wind. Someone had generated a big whirlwind to shred another enemy, then someone showed up over at the footprints and put an end to it. Judging by the shape and size of the feet, it was a human.

There were two Mobians fighting here, and he could still sense the lingering chaos energy, diluted over time but existing merely because of its quantity.

Question was who were the two Mobian combatants?

Deciding not to dwell on the matter, Vergil wandered out of the room, Rouge in tow. Perhaps he could find some evidence to give him some more information.

This room seemed important.

-

Shadow the Hedgehog awoke from his slumber with an ache in his head. How had he been put here?

He crawled out of the bed and put his uniform that was hanging so nicely on a rack on.

"Good morning, General. I see you're well." He heard a voice by the door say. Shadow turned and saw a lower officer look at him.

He tried to walk and cringed with the resulting pain. The peon rushed over. "General, you're not fit to work yet! Please don't move."

"Not fit… to work… yet?" Shadow mumbled. "Lieutenant, where am I?"

"Prison Island's medical chambers, sir!"

"Good." Shadow got up and walked away. The lieutenant tried to get up and stop him, but he knew that would be insubordination, so he stopped.

Shadow meandered down the hallways, instantly familiar with the layout of the building now that he was fully conscious. His body was still hurting, but he could live with it.

He wandered down a few halls, wondering why there were alarms blaring in Prison Island of all places. He saw several G.U.N. walkers striding down the hallway. Perhaps they mistook him for the intruders, or they were being controlled by the enemy, he didn't know, but they began to fire at him. Shadow scowled at their impudence and quickly cast a Chaos Control, seemingly appearing behind them, and he kicked all of them in the direction that he had come from. One of them sailed straight through the wall.

"Shit. The Commanding General's going to kill me for this."

-

"Shit, shit, shit, shit…" Miles grumbled as his new escape attempt failed to work. There were several holes in the walls, as indicated by his attempts to scale the wall by using his lance as a springboard.

He was running out of thoughts. That wall was too tough for him to dig into.

What could he do? He didn't want to deter the other two from their courses to get him out of a measly hole.

As he thought that, the wall burst open. A mechanical walker, definitely G.U.N., flew through. "Well. Thanks for getting me out of this hole." He said mockingly. As he climbed through the hole, he noticed another person. A hedgehog, black with red stripes, in a G.U.N. uniform. Miles grinned.

"Heh. Target has been found."

Shadow merely looked at him before speaking shortly. "Who are you?"

"Ragnarok of the Paranormal, and I come with an offer."

"What would that offer be?" Shadow took out the red Chaos Emerald that he carried with him.

Miles gripped his lance and went into a ready stance. "Join the Paranormal. Together we can crush Robotnik."

Shadow came at him at the speed of his Chaos Control. Appearing behind him, he thrust his foot out in a kick. "Offer refused."

"Who said I gave you a choice?" Miles retorted. He spun around and caught the black hedgehog's foot with the shaft of his lance before pulling, with his inhuman strength, and forcing Shadow off balance. He swung his weapon like a baseball bat, sending Shadow flying into the wall. "If you don't join me willingly, I'll just force you to join me."

Not fazed in the least, Shadow made his way out of the crater that Miles' homerun left in the wall. "Why do you want me so bad?"

"That's not 'til later, buddy." Miles grinned roguishly, "But good try at least." He leapt at Shadow with his lance's sharp point aimed straight at Shadow.

"I guess I will have to step up my game then." Shadow let the energy from the Chaos Emerald flow into him. "Sorry for underestimating you." A red aura spread over him, the energy coming off in waves.

"Ah. So you have a Chaos Emerald too. I suppose that's how you are able to move so fast. But there's one thing you're missing." Miles took on a silver aura. He reached into the pocket of his cargo pants and pulled out a white gem. "I'm not the only one who's been underestimated."

"Then this will be an enjoyable fight." Shadow smirked. "Bring it on."

-

The Chaos Emeralds are an anomaly to Geologists and Chemists alike. Scientists generally accept the description covered in "Theory and Composition of the Chaos Emeralds" by Gerald Robotnik, PhD. This is an excerpt from the book on what exactly happens to life when it comes in contact with the radiation from the emeralds.

_Their atomic structure is exactly the same as other emeralds, but they undergo a type of radioactive decay I would call omega decay. The radiation produced seems to have an interesting affect on life. They become more attuned, for lack of a better term, to the particle that each Emerald represents. IT is unknown how this is done, but each Emerald, if used properly, allows the user to manipulate certain aspects of nature telekinetically. For example; the red Chaos Emerald allows its user to manipulate fire, perhaps by changing the temperature and friction of air molecules. This phenomenon is still undergoing study._

_-__Theory and Composition of the Chaos Emeralds__, Prof. Gerald Robotnik_

-

"Chaos Hail!" Shadow sent dozens of fireballs forward from his outstretched hand. Miles dodged them skillfully, batting away the ones he couldn't evade with his lance, which now rested in only his left hand to make room for the Chaos Emerald in his right.

While Miles was distracted deflecting the small meteors, Shadow used his Chaos Control to sneak behind him. "Chaos Spear!"

Shadow was amazed when the spear of fire went straight through Miles as if he was thin air. He stood back fearfully, then he saw Miles lance pull in front of him.

"You didn't notice did you, that my copy had no shadow?"

The black hedgehog's eyes narrowed. "Impossible. I didn't hear you say a word!"

Miles smiled. "I researched the Chaos Emeralds all my life. I should know that you don't have to announce your attacks when you use them." The copy of Miles turned black and sank into the ground, before slinking behind Miles to resume its place as his shadow.

"The white Chaos Emerald, ironically, controls darkness. It can do such things as force light out of a particular area and manipulate shadows. What you saw there was Chaos Animation, or rather the Emerald animating my shadow to become a look alike of me."

Shadow was behind Miles, a result of his Chaos Control. "But I talk too much, don't I?" A bullet flew through Miles. Shadow smirked. So did Miles.

"But you failed to notice my shadow again, General." Miles grinned from behind the stunned G.U.N. soldier. "If I have no shadow, that means you have a fifty percent chance of hitting my copy." He chuckled. "But enough time for games. Surely you have something under your sleeve too."

Shadow growled and yelled, "Chaos Flare!"

Miles yelled with fury when he was caught in a vortex of flames. The fire ate away at his skin, and he spoke one thing. "Ha. Ha. Amusing." And he faded away.

Shadow saw a shadow move from the flames and Miles rise out of it, looking terrible. His clothes were burnt up and his fur had scorch marks everywhere. "Very clever. Enshroud me and my copy in flames so I can't switch. Good thing I'm smart enough to use my powers. Oh well, my patience is wearing thin. Your abilities are needed for my victory." Miles waved his hands and Shadow's own shadow came up and put him in a chokehold.

"This would be Chaos Bond, Shadow." Miles grinned madly. "Your own shadow rises up to contain you, and if you hurt it in any way, it hurts you."

The coffin of blackness Shadow was stuck in began to deprive him of his oxygen, slowly letting him into unconsciousness. "But I can control that shadow, and I don't give a damn if it hurts you."

As Shadow fell unconscious, the shadows receded, reforming back into the black hedgehog's shadow. Miles walked over to him and hoisted him over his shoulder. "Maybe I should use that Emerald more often."

-

Sonic ran with the speed he was known for, trying to find an exit from the forest. Knuckles followed him, half dazed at the hedgehog's speed and at his own memory loss.

"We're almost there." Sonic assured Knuckles. _Once I figure out where there is._

They jumped over a lake, Sonic almost lost grip of Knuckles' hand, but the echidna held on tight.

"Oh, hello again, Sonic."

Sonic stopped. That was the last voice he wanted to hear.

"What do you want Miles?" He asked, not turning around.

"Oh nothing much. My offer still stands for joining my group." The fox said, shifting Shadow slightly on his shoulder. "I found Shadow, so my mission here is over. I believe Robotnik's going to blow this island up to kingdom come as well in around five minutes, so you'd better hurry and get out of his forest, eh?"

The blue blur turned and looked at Miles, Vergil, Spectre, Rouge, and the unconscious Shadow. "How are you going to get out?"

"I have my ways." Spectre spoke in his deadpan voice. "If you join us, I may be able to get you out as well. We _do_ have a common enemy, and assistance would be greatly appreciated."

"You're against Robotnik." Sonic asked, making sure.

"Yes."

Throwing his hands up in the air, he walked over to them. "Fine, I'm part of your little group, but only to beat Robotnik."

"Good enough for me." Miles grinned.

Knuckles followed along confused. Spectre held his hand out and said. "All of you touch my arm. We are returning to Complex Zero."

They all joined hands with Spectre, and instantly, they returned to base.

-

A few minutes later, Shadow woke up inside of another G.U.N. base. He heard Miles' voice in his head. _You know what to do._

He unrolled the blueprint in his hand. It was a type of spaceship.

_BLX-221 Cosmo Beetle_

-

The clock ticked unnecessarily loudly. Commanding General Hector Sykes drummed his war-calloused fingers on the desk, to the rhythm of the monotonous ticking beat of the clock.

He hated – no, _abhorred_ his office. It was so _boring_, and as the Commanding General of the United Federation's Ground Army, Secret Service, Investigational Bureau, and Black Ops: Pretty much the highest rank and honors one can possibly achieve, he never really saw battle that often.

His momentary drift into space was interrupted by a rapping on the door. Calling his affirmative, the guest came in.

Lieutenant Sven "Volt" Winston, Sykes recalled. An interesting character. "What is it I can do for you, Lieutenant?"

The Mobian officer frowned momentarily before reporting. "Prison Island has been compromised, sir."

"What?!" He couldn't believe it; Prison Island was perhaps _the_ most secure correctional facility in the world. _The most secure prison in the entire fucking world has been taken down!_

"It is true sir." Volt reached into his vest and produced a rolled up paper. He handed it to the Commander, who unrolled it quickly. "This is the supposed perpetrator, according to eyewitness accounts."

It was a short fox boy, the seven earrings and the lance and all. There was already a bounty given on him from G.U.N., for one hundred thousand rings. "How in the hell did a _kid_ do this?" Sykes questioned, annoyed. Volt recollected the paper and spoke.

"It is said that he had accomplices, but this kid, according to security footage, took down General Shadow the Hedgehog himself."

"What?!" Sykes slammed his arms on his desk. Who the hell was this kid?

Volt put in a tape and they watched the scene of the fight. As they saw Miles take on a white aura, Volt spoke. "He is a Chaos Emerald user, perhaps more adept than Shadow and the other one we captured the other day."

"Speaking of the other one," Sykes ventured, "He _is_ still there, right?"

"Negative, sir."

"More bad news." He slumped in his chair, and resumed drumming his fingers on the desk as they watched the rest of the tape.

Volt looked at his higher ranking officer with concern, saying the only piece of good new that he came to say as the tape finished. "General Shadow is slated to make a full recovery. At the moment, I'm not sure if he has been released into active duty yet."

"I see." Sykes thought for a moment before saying, "Lieutenant Winston."

Said Mobian snapped to attention immediately.

"I order you to bring me this character's head, and you won't stop pursuing him until I say otherwise. Crystal?"

"Yes sir."

"Dismissed." Volt saluted Sykes then walked out the door. The Commanding General rewound the tape, seeing if he could find out anything that would give at least his name away.

"I don't know who you are kid, but let me tell you this. You are going straight to the hell that you came out of." He got up and walked out of the room, the video still playing.

-

The now wanted fox boy was wandering up and down the room that contained his perhaps greatest invention yet. It took a lot of time researching the Eclipse Cannon; the documents were highly classified and the info was more than protected. Luckily for him, he could hack, and he could hack well.

The cannon he was building, codenamed Blitzkrieg, was equal or greater in terms of power with the Eclipse Cannon.

Miles heard the door open behind him, and he turned to face who it was. Sonic. He still hadn't gotten used to other presences inside of Complex Zero, besides Rouge. "Do you need something, Sonic?"

"What is this?" He walked up to the window showing the cannon with awe. "How long have you been working on this?"

Miles looked at his masterpiece. "This is the Blitzkrieg Cannon, designed specifically to counter the ARK and its Eclipse Cannon. It took me three years to blueprint, but the building of it was much quicker." Miles spoke. When everything was automated, building things went by fast.

"Wow."

"Wow indeed." Miles grinned, crossing his arms behind his back.

The cannon laid horizontally across the planar floor of the room. In fact, this room really wasn't much more than a place to store the cannon, waiting for that one moment.

It took about the energy of a chaos emerald to power it. Luckily for him, Miles had two in his possession, so that was currently a non-issue.

It was odd having Sonic and Knuckles inside of the Complex. Yes, he had ensured that both be equipped with standard living areas for the both of them should they need them, but Knuckles was really the only one who used them. Upon asking Sonic, the hedgehog replied that sleeping in a room like that was too "stuffy" and didn't grant him the freedom the wild did.

That in itself was problematic, also, due to the fact that it was necessary to build an above ground exit in order to satisfy Sonic's needs. But that also made it much easier to transport heavy machinery in and out of the base.

Not that it mattered much entirely, anyways. Miles estimated that Complex Zero wouldn't be habitable for much longer. He had another location in mind, of course, when the moment came that he would have to vacate the Complex.

His attention turned from his thoughts to the hedgehog tapping his shoulder. Raising an eyebrow, he prompted the blue blur to speak.

"What is this for, anyways?"

Miles grinned, showing off large white canines. "Why, for destroying the ARK of course."

Sonic's confounded look reminded him that the hedgehog didn't know what the ARK was. Oops. In his days of solitude, he had forgotten that his allies need to be told something to know something. So he proceeded to explain his situation to Sonic, who looked like he was only paying half attention.

"…And Sonic, when the time comes, I plan on using the machines that G.U.N. should be mass producing at this moment to send you to the ARK, to get rid of its defenses against the Blitzkrieg."

–

And indeed, G.U.N. began to mass produce the Cosmo Beetles.

Shadow had voiced his opinion to his subordinates, following Miles' plan to a T.

"_By doing this, you will learn why you exist, Shadow. Isn't that what you want?"_

About twenty Cosmo Beetles had already been produced now, and were ready for take-off. The Beetles were more like transporters. They sacrificed extreme ammo capabilities for the ability to take more than twenty soldiers at a time to space. The black exterior of the Cosmo Beetles allowed for camouflage in the cosmos, where the backdrop was black, and just in case, it did was armed with railguns and laser turrets in case it was attacked.

Shadow paced back and forth inside his Beetle, while the subordinates that were travelling with him were sitting on the benches at the sides. Miles had Shadow pull some strings through the ranks of G.U.N., using his lofty status, to get Hayden, a troop normally not under Shadow's command, involved in this operation too. Said big dog was sitting on his bench, talking animatedly with the other soldiers, blending in perfectly. Only Shadow knew the dog's true purpose on this operation, and that was to be Miles' eyes and ears for what was going on.

Shadow would admit right now, that the fox, although just a kid, was a genius of the kind not seen for generations. And he could put up a fight too. Shadow unconsciously rubbed the scar that had formed on his back, from the lance that the prodigious kid carried with him.

"Sir!" Shadow sensed a subordinate of his, perhaps a pilot of the Beetle, address him. The black hedgehog turned around. "We have arrived."

"Perfect, Lieutenant. Open the gates now. Commence Operation: Blue Fire."

"Sir!" The nameless Lieutenant hurried away to open the doors as the soldiers on both sides as Shadow began to order his troops.

"We are to begin an operation through this space colony to remove the threat of Doctor Robotnik. He has already destroyed our nation's capitol and will not hesitate to fire his Eclipse Cannon again should we be spotted. Luckily, we have the element of surprise on our side now, and let's keep it that way!"

The troops filed out, saluting the General as he made his way out last.

"_I will find out why, professor. I will find out why you gave me life!"_

–

Miles exited his conversation with Sonic swiftly, making his way to his quarters on the other side of the Complex.

His main computer greeted him as he walked into the room, but Miles tuned the routine process out and spoke, "Computer, bring up all data on experiment 2232 on server ARTEMIS."

The computer processed the command for a moment, and then spoke. "Access denied."

As Miles sat in his plush chair, he frowned. That shouldn't happen. ARTEMIS was Eggman's server, but the AI usually allowed him in anyways. Perhaps ARTEMIS wasn't there anymore? Miles shook his head. The operations it must be doing with the ARK must have its CPU al filled up. "Enter override code: 366B. Insert command to ARTEMIS: Priority one: Complex Zero. Then retry."

That should divert the CPU towards him, he figured. The computer paused for a moment before speaking again. "ARTEMIS echo: Welcome Miles. What is it you need?"

"Command to ARTEMIS: Bring up data on experiment 2232."

"ARTEMIS echo: Very well." All of the data came up on the multiple screens of Miles computer. He looked at it, and then started. He leapt up from his computer and grabbed a book from his bookshelf, entitled _"Theory of Hexes by Tomara Nikibro"._

He scanned through the pages, and coming to one that satisfied him, looked at the data on the screen again. And back to the book. And back to the screen. This was the greatest discovery he had made yet!

"Of course, this all connects. It is possible to use the energy of a Chaos Emerald that lies on the opposite side of its spectrum. The statistics are all different, and it was hidden for a reason. Its power is so much more potent, so much more uncontrolled than plain Chaos Energy! This is how Gasmask's hex works! Using Negative Chaos Energy!"

Miles stood for a moment, appalled by his discovery. Negative Chaos Energy. He had coined the term just now, but it was a fitting name. Negative meant opposite, and Negative Chaos Energy – he could abbreviate that to NCE, for that was a mouthful – was the opposite of Positive Chaos Energy. And it certainly was not order, either.

"There are a whole bunch of things that could be made with this…" He grinned, happy with his discovery.

"Command to ARTEMIS: Copy data on experiment 2232 to Garret's memory, then erase data on experiment 2232 on ARTEMIS servers."

Garret was another one of the Paranormal who never would really see battle. More of a living computer than anything, he was too valuable to lose due to his ability to store information in his brain like a computer, so he can never forget it. Garret is essentially an extension of Miles' brain given form.

"ARTEMIS echo: Very well, Miles."

He couldn't help but feel hyper over his discovery. That was when the ground started shaking violently.

"What the hell? I better go see what's up."

–

"Finally you come, Miles!" Sonic stood there, panting. "It seems that Robotnik found out about Complex Zero, and came to destroy it."

"Stupid above ground exit" Miles muttered, before ordering. "Go take on the left flank, and I'll take on the right. Spectre and Vergil will take the center!"

Miles dashed to the right after he said this and attacked the many robots in that direction. He didn't know exactly how Eggman came to know of the above ground exit, but something leaked the information to him and he was determined to find out what.

But that could wait. Right now, these annoying paraphernalia of machines could be destroyed. He picked up his lance and put it into a ready position.

The robots in front of him had large blades for arms, and they looked very sharp. They looked similar to the Bomber that he had made with Robotnik years ago, only smaller and more agile.

Bastard! He used the SR-STAT system against him! What is this?!

He bit off an acerbic remark, knowing that these robots wouldn't hear it, and died under the feet of the first one, shoving his lance through the center and short circuiting it. He decided that these robots would be small fry and he needn't use his Chaos powers here.

He cut through several more robots before he realized he wasn't holding his lance anymore.

Actually, in fact, his whole right arm got lobbed off right at the shoulder. The copious blood leaking from the severed appendage made Miles sick, but he pulled though his nausea. His eyes widened as he saw the robot with the bloodied blade, but slowly contorted into rage as he pulled his white Chaos Emerald from his pocket with his only remaining hand.

"Chaos Judgment!"

The shadows that appeared wiped the armada that Eggman sent clean off the map. Miles glared at the destroyed heaps of metal momentarily, before the amount of blood that he lost and the energy he expended took its toll on him, and he fell unconscious.

–

Shadow almost tripped over the dead body of the scientist that lay motionless on the metallic ground, preserved only by the fact that bodies do not decay in space, as there is nothing to rot them.

He walked onward, shaking the grisly image from his mind and continuing.

His eyes came upon a large silver egg that hung from the ceiling in the next room. What was that? He wandered closer to it, and gazed at the TV screen above it.

Somehow, it seemed to sense the hedgehog's stare, and it turned on. Shadow jumped back from this, but when he saw Professor Gerald Robotnik himself on the screen, he was enthralled.

The professor began to rant, particularly about the unfairness of G.U.N. and how he slowly lost his mind. "…And all of you _ungrateful_ humans… shall feel my loss… and despair!"

The silver egg beneath the screen began to crack into many pieces, and it shattered, revealing a large lizard. The Biolizard, Shadow's mind told him, although he wasn't sure exactly how he knew. It roared, showing a toothless mouth, and Shadow jumped back to the door of the room, getting into a fighting stance as his body took on a red glow.

Seems that another big conflict would come on soon, then.

He jumped over a black fireball of its and ran around it, trying to find a weak point. He noticed the glowing red… apparatus, for lack of a better name, on top of it, and figured it to be a kind of life support system.

He smirked and jumped onto the body, using his skill to keep himself from falling off… That is, it he hadn't been bounced off by the serpent's rubbery skin. That wasn't an option, he told himself, but there had to be a way to get up there. It was far too tall to jump up, and the skin would bounce him off.

The monster began to take a breather, and that's when Shadow noticed the pipes on the sides of its head that connected to the life support system. He jumped onto the pipe at the side of its head and grinded up. It took all of his balance to keep himself from falling off, but he made it to the top, and so he yelled, "Chaos Spear!" And launched a powerful ray of fire at it.

The Biolizard roared, and Shadow lost his balance, falling off. He cursed to himself, knowing that the lizard probably wouldn't let him up the pipes again. In fact, it changed its attack pattern entirely. It spawned a series of eggs, they simple ejected themselves from its skin – Shadow was a little repulsed at the idea – and they began to chase him. Eggs as weapons? Innovative indeed.

But the eggs gave him an idea. They formed a protective sphere around the creature, and the Biolizard guarded the tubes at the side of its head passionately. With a grunt, he jumped from the ground, landing on an egg. Grinning at his success, he jumped from egg to egg, making it up to the life support system. "Chaos Spear!"

The ray of fire pierced the glowing red sphere this time, and it shattered into a million pieces. Shadow smirked, seeing the Biolizard writhe in pain. But Shadow knew that the rest had yet to begin.

He landed on the ground as the Biolizard vanished into thin air. That was fishy. There is something going on here.

The ARK began to shake uncontrollably, and every TV in the room seemed to turn on at once, echoing the same line over and over again.

"Feel my loss and despair!"

"Feel my loss and despair!"

"Feel my loss and despair!"

Shadow covered his ears to prevent the voices from driving him insane as two figures enter the room beside him.

–

"Unghh." Miles awoke. He looked around him, and realized that he was back in his room. What happened? Oh yes, Robotnik sent an attack force to Complex Zero, and Miles ended up getting his arm lobbed off.

Speaking of that, Miles looked at where his arm would be and jumped. Where his stump of a shoulder was, a robotic arm was now there. It was fully functional, it seemed, it moved and felt just like a normal arm save for the metal sheen.

"I see you're awake." A distinctive, changed voice spoke. Miles immediately recognized it and asked.

"Did you do this, Gasmask?"

"If you meant the arm, yes." Gasmask grinned under his mask, and walked over to Miles. "You seem to be getting better. Exhaustion signs are wearing off. The arm isn't getting gangrenous, that's good."

"Hm."

"Here." Gasmask pulled out a syringe filled with white liquid. "You will need this."

"What is that?" Miles enquired, edging away as the masked man came closer with the needle.

"That? That's a secret." Gasmask seemed to be grinning under his mask again. "Well, you will need to take it nonetheless. It is very important."

"Not until you tell me what it is." Miles stood and headed to the opposite end of his bedroom.

Gasmask sighed. "Children… so difficult." Miles' robotic arm came and pushed a pressure point on Miles' own body, deactivating his other limbs temporarily. He also felt his connection with the other Paranormal go haywire, and for the first time in ages, felt more vulnerable than he had ever been before.

"What did you do to me?!" Miles yelled, somewhat freaked out by the fact that his own body was rebelling.

Gasmask knelt down by the frightened eleven-year old and sunk the needle into his left shoulder. "Hush, Miles. It will all be okay. This drug is just a small addition to your body. Trust me, you won't notice."

He pulled the needle out and disappeared out of the room, just as Miles regained control over his body. His connection with the other Paranormal wasn't jammed anymore, but now, it was useless.

"_I was hoping to see who he really was. Guess Gasmask was counting on that."_

Miles looked at his arm, worried that it wasn't completely his, but got an idea.

"He may control it now, but I can change that."

He walked to his research room and found his tools. There was a specific screw driver he needed to open up the robotic arm. He took off the front plate and was met with a slip of paper inside of the device.

"Feel free to edit or remove the control I have over your arm. Just needed to put the drug into your body. That's all." There was a little smiley face at the end too.

He scowled and crumpled up the paper, throwing it aside. The apparatuses in his arm were interesting. He recognized them, but wondered how he could work around these electronics.

He went to his computer and sat down, looking through his research to see how he could edit his arm. Then he stumbled across a saved document.

Experiment 2232.

Hmm… Wouldn't the control of Negative Chaos Energy be interesting? He thought.

…Yes.

–

_Hey, look at that. That is the longest chapter I have ever written for this story. Sorry I haven't updated for a while; writer's block attacked me. lol_

_Next chapter is called "Hope" and it's gonna finish this little segment of the story._

_Bis dann, Obsidian Fireheart._

_Oh yes, I changed my name if you haven't noticed._


End file.
